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    What is a social intranet?

    A social intranet is an internal network or digital solution that combines traditional intranet features with social networking capabilities. Social intranets are designed to serve as a communication and collaboration tool within an organization, allowing employees to connect, share information, and work together in a more interactive and engaging manner. The goal of a social intranet is to create a more connected and transparent workplace environment, where information flows more freely, employees engage in meaningful interactions, and collaboration is more efficient. Ideally, a social intranet aims to break down communication silos, encourage knowledge sharing, and enhance overall employee engagement and productivity.

3 powerful features of social intranets

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Greater peer-to-peer engagement

The peer-to-peer engagement generated by a social intranet network reduces the workload on managers, fosters innovation, and builds relationships. It facilitates feedback, aids in onboarding and training, and provides great networking opportunities. It enhances communication overall, nurturing a positive workplace culture and contributing to organizational growth and employee satisfaction.
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Amplified
employee voice

Social intranets create a direct line of communication with employees, contributing to a culture of continuous improvement. Feedback and surveys within a social intranet platform offer a structured way to gather quantitative and qualitative data, aiding in measuring employee satisfaction, finding areas for growth, and monitoring the success of initiatives.
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Increased employee recognition

Employee recognition facilitated through a social intranet generates motivation for increased productivity, fostering a sense of belonging, transparency, alignment with values, and improved retention. Intranet-based recognition ensures consistent acknowledgment and contributes to a positive workplace, increased morale and engagement, and overall organizational success.

Social intranet platforms sound great, so what’s the catch?

They’re inadequate for top-down communication
One of the downsides of social intranets is their inadequate support for top-down comms and true internal communication use cases. This is because pages and groups within these intranets are typically owned by individuals or departments, making it challenging for important top-down communications to stand out amidst numerous other posts and discussions, resulting in potential information loss.
They’re cluttered, lack centralized information, and are difficult to manage
Social intranets can quickly become cluttered and lack centralized information, making them difficult to manage effectively. They also often lack the necessary capabilities for precise information targeting, efficient navigation, and dynamic page creation. While they may serve as a tool for communication, they often fall short compared to a modern, multichannel intranet platform, which provides a more organized and structured approach to information sharing.
They have no seamless front door to the digital workplace
Social intranets rarely offer a seamless front door experience, failing to provide useful integrations with digital workplace tools, particularly for deskless workers. For frontline employees who rely on quick self-service and tool access, this integration gap can lead to frustration, inefficiency, and failure to adopt.
They don’t improve the digital employee experience
Social intranets often exist in isolation, creating additional silos of information rather than acting as a cohesive platform that complements productivity software like Microsoft. Striking a balance between trying to be a full-fledged collaboration tool while still seamlessly integrating with other essential workplace tools remains a challenge for social intranets.

Learn more about social intranets

Find out why social intranets are not the internal comms solution your company needs

Social Intranet Software: Does It Still Make Sense?

Social Intranet Software: Does It Still Make Sense?

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3 Problems with Social Intranet Platforms

3 Problems with Social Intranet Platforms

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Step through the front door of the multichannel intranet into a new world of engagement

Is a social intranet the best tool for fully engaging your company? Or are you looking for an intranet that offers the myriad benefits of a multichannel intranet platform: creating and sharing effective communication, reaching and engaging every employee, and providing a front door to the digital workplace.

A multichannel communications approach that coordinates the delivery of content and communication across multiple channels and touchpoints.


Personalized, top-down communication that’s critical for aligning employees to the mission and vision of their organizations.



Easy access to information and knowledge for admins and users alike.


Seamless digital workplace integrations for a better digital employee experience.

Plus all of the best social intranet facets for connection, peer-to-peer engagement, and recognition.

The main advantages to a modern approach to intranet strategy

One

News and information can find employees where they are, not the other way around.

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Comms can be delivered through diverse channels for stronger employee touchpoints.

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Option for strategic comms and crisis comms to be pushed to specific channels.

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There's a single place to create and manage all news and messaging.

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Why Staffbase Intranet is your best choice for an intranet that’s social — and so much more

Staffbase has completely changed the intranet game. It’s the #1 intranet for communications and engagement. Admins love it, and employees actually use it.

  • Reach employees beyond desktop

    A multichannel comms approach makes your intranet accessible to every employee, regardless of their location or device — with options for desktop, app, email, digital signage, and M365 integrations. Multichannel comms allow employees to quickly access information and resources, saving time and boosting productivity.

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    Personalized, top down communication automates tailored messages to every employee when they need it most. No more one-size-fits-all comms. Target relevant content to specific employee groups to increase readership and engagement. Share employee updates in a personalized news feed displayed in the channels they use or in groups they join. Customized navigation, menu structures, and quick links highlight content based on employees’ locations, roles, or devices.

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    Full access to information and knowledge with a single point of access to important resources, documents, and files, eliminating the need to search through various systems. Create departmental hubs and strengthen collaboration, networking, and belonging through the employee directory, facilitating connections across the organization. Efficient information retrieval streamlines workflows and improves overall productivity.

Read Bethany Children's Health Center's success story

Discover how Bethany Children's Health Center Informs, Educates, and Engages with 1000+ Healthcare Workers
Read the Case Study
Bethany Children's Health Center Case Study

A seamless employee experience through integrations

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Unlock the power of Microsoft and create a seamless experience between your intranet and the tools and services your employees need to get work done. Add access points and overviews of Microsoft Teams, calendars, files, tasks and more with just one click
Search across systems like M365 and Google Workspace to ensure employees can find relevant information and resources to improve efficiency, reduce search time, and avoid information silos.
Provide a one-stop shop for HR self-services with Staffbase Integration Builder's low-code, no-code approach to establishing a comprehensive HR hub for simplifying absence requests, shift planning, and payslip distribution. Seamlessly integrate with popular HRIS systems including ADP, Workday, SAP, and Oracle.
Boost user adoption by streamlining access to efficient workplace tools and connections like the cafeteria menu, employee directory, personalized profiles, and event calendars.
Learn more about Integrations
Personalize experiences to drive adoption

Engagement that goes beyond social

Build communities that employees can join based on interest and passion, creating a sense of inclusion around important workplace and personal topics.

Boost engagement with user-generated content on social walls, as well as options for liking, commenting, mentioning, hashtagging, and bookmarking on the content of your choice.
Recognize and acknowledge employee achievements, fostering a culture of appreciation and motivation.

Boost employee engagement, satisfaction, and morale.
Engage employees by conducting surveys and polls to gather feedback, opinions, and ideas, creating a real sense of inclusion and empowerment.

Feature surveys on news articles and pages for maximum reach and relevance.

Gather employee input or speed up paper processes by building and publishing forms.
Connect employees conveniently and securely through 1-1, group, or managed user group conversations in a convenient built-in chat tool to connect workers both in the office and the frontlines.

Utilize engaging chat features like voice messages and reactions to better connect and communicate with all colleagues.

Top-down communication that’s easy for admins

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With a shared editorial calendar and collaborative editing workflows, seamlessly plan and collaborate on strategic communications, eliminating silos and ensuring effective internal communication.


Collaborate on content without worrying about something getting lost, with the ability to restore older versions of a page, and keep track of which editor made changes and when.

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Campaigns — Create and categorize content at the topic-level with campaigns that allow you to design, implement and measure your strategic communications plan.


Use pre-designed page templates or create interactive pages with widgets, media, and attachments, with no code or help needed from IT.

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Provide robust, secure governance, including role-based access, rights management, and content moderation.


Manage files in a unified way across pages, news posts, and widgets to save time for editors and admins and quickly reuse files.

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Multichannel post statistics help you easily identify which channels are driving traffic to your content to improve your multichannel communications strategy.


Delve into employee engagement levels by tracking metrics like time spent on pages, interaction with content, and survey responses.

Frequently asked questions about social intranet

A social intranet is an internal network or digital platform that combines traditional intranet features with social networking capabilities. It was originally meant to serve as a communication and collaboration tool within an organization, allowing employees to connect, share information, and work together in a more interactive and engaging manner.
User profiles enable employees to create personal profiles, share expertise, and connect with colleagues.
Activity feeds display real-time updates, fostering transparency and engagement.
Collaboration tools encourage teamwork and information exchange.
Groups and communities allow individuals to form specialized interest groups and work on specific projects.
Messaging and chat functions promote instant communication and quick decision-making.
News and announcements keep employees informed about company updates. Mobile accessibility ensures connectivity on the go.
A social intranet offers several benefits, including improved communication among employees, enhanced collaboration on projects, streamlined knowledge sharing, increased transparency in company updates, faster decision-making, and the creation of a more engaged and connected workforce. It fosters a sense of community, breaks down silos, and enables efficient access to information, ultimately boosting productivity and innovation within the organization.
A social intranet and a front door intranet are both types of digital platforms used within organizations, but they serve different primary purposes. While a social intranet focuses on fostering communication and collaboration among employees, a front door intranet fulfills this goal while also serving as a central entry point for accessing essential organizational resources and information.
A constant flow of decentralized, irrelevant updates, messages, and discussions can lead to employees feeling overwhelmed and distracted from their tasks. Security concerns may arise as well, as confidential information shared on social intranets might inadvertently become more widely accessible than intended. Maintaining engagement can also be a challenge; if not properly managed, social intranets can become underutilized or populated with irrelevant content. Collaboration within social intranets are often better served by outside tools. Integrating with employee self-service software and third-party document repositories can require extensive customization. Overall, while social intranets can be powerful tools, their do-it-all nature often results in them doing nothing particularly well.

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Step Two Intranet & Digital Workplace Awards
ClearBox Choices Awards 2024 - Leading Product
G2 Employee Communications Leader Enterprise Winter 2023
Microsoft Partner
Software Advice Most Recommended 2021
Software Advice Best Customer Support 2021
2021 MarCom Awards
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