Top 6 Social Intranet Solutions (+ Benefits, Features & Best Apps)

If you’re in the market for a new company intranet solution, you’ve probably come across the term social intranet.

The combination of these two words (social + intranet) hasn’t typically been a common one. We associate intranets as business tools where we keep documents and search for lost files.

Social, on the other hand, prefixes many terms we associate with life outside of work:

• Social media
• Social gatherings
• Social butterfly
• Social clubs

But social intranets have fast become the place for workplace culture to develop.

In this guide, we describe what a social intranet is, highlight how one can benefit your business, and explore the best features and tools available on the market today.

What is a social intranet?

A social intranet is a digital hub for businesses to communicate and collaborate. Hosted on a secure online platform, a social intranet is accessible only to those with relevant credentials who are almost always internal employees.

The ‘intranet’ term stems from being a closed internet available to internal staff only. The ‘social’ element lends itself to being an engagement-friendly discussion zone that encourages two-way communication and a hive of activity.

Social is also the term borrowed from “social media.” There’s major inspiration from social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter when it comes to the design and navigation of social intranet platforms, which is what makes them so user-friendly.

Unlike traditional intranets often used for top-down announcements and uploading templates and handbooks, a modern social intranet can be a place for employee engagement, wellbeing, collaboration, and, dare we say it, fun.

What’s the difference between a social intranet and a normal intranet?

A traditional intranet may have been commonplace in the workforce of the past. But a social intranet must become the norm in the workforce of the future.

Benefits of a social intranet

When you introduce a social intranet platform, expect a boost in productivity and employee collaboration. This is especially crucial for remote work cultures, where fostering a sense of community can be more challenging. This workplace hub can create a sense of community and togetherness rather than simply being a common ground for files and documents.

Better collaboration

When you have a single place dedicated to checking in with colleagues and receiving project updates, everything ticks along that much better. Use check-ins, updates, and notifications for proactive communication and an improved collaboration experience.

Heightened employee engagement

When employees have a safe space where participation is actively encouraged to express themselves and join in with company initiatives, they’re going to have a better time. Feeling part of the bigger picture and having a sense of belonging go a long way when it comes to wellbeing and engagement.

More efficient and powerful search

Finding documents that feel lost in time is one of the biggest drains on productivity. In fact, more than 50% of office pros say they spend more time searching for files than on work. Think of how much time you’d have left to spend on presentations, documents, project updates, and passion projects if you got all that time back!

Enhanced security

When you choose a modern, secure social intranet platform, you’re signing up to a compliant, penetration-tested solution that can house all your files, documents, and user credentials in a single place. There’s no more lifting and shifting private information and sensitive data. Everything stays in a single network with change tracking, version control, and role-based access controls.

App consolidation

Have you ever been halfway through your day and thought to yourself ‘Why am I always switching between an endless sea of tools and apps?’

You’re not alone.

Opting for a best-in-class social intranet means you get the majority of your collaboration features in a single platform. The need to switch between apps (and contexts) gets dramatically reduced, saving up to 3,600 app switches per day.

Throw in the cost savings of reducing superfluous apps, and it’s hard to ignore the benefits of social intranets.

Features to look for in a social intranet

When searching for your social intranet software, make sure you check off these features. Some are table stakes, but others can only be found at the top of the tree.

User-friendly interface

It should go without saying that any modern app must be easy to use and be conducive to productivity.

It’s long been thought that intranets are too finnicky and hard to use. Users who’ve been asked to start using an intranet for document storage and company announcements find themselves having to learn a clunky design and jump through hoops to carry out basic tasks.

Instead, make sure your intranet interface is as simple to use as your smartphone or favorite social media. Everything should make sense with minimal training.

Activity feeds

Leaning into the social side of intranets, activity feeds, and homepages become a key element of adoption and continued use. Use these to update personnel about company events, changes in procedures, and any new initiatives or activities staff can sign up to.

These should be customizable so individuals don’t get overwhelmed with events and posts unsuitable for their role. Choosing what to see upfront is a major positive for user engagement.

Centralized file management

Probably one of the most vital features of a social intranet is the also most traditional, but file management is proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Sure you get files and folders. You get version control and labels. But finding those files has come a long way. No longer must you block time in your calendar to find the proposal you’re working on before you actually start working on it.

Instead, leverage integrations and search assistance to get exactly what you need with one keyword search. Need to find the 2025 financial projections? Just search ‘2025 financial projections’. No, really, that’s it.

Mobile functionality

The population of mobile workers in the US is forecast to increase from 78.5 million in 2020 to 93.5 million by the end of 2024. By 2025, 2026, and beyond, we don’t expect this figure to decrease, thanks to the uptick in remote working.

So when you invest in social intranet software, it needs to come with a mobile app that grants access to everything you need when sitting at a laptop. Ensuring your intranet is accessible to every user at their convenience is crucial for continued use.

Video creation and sharing

Thanks to the success of YouTube and TikTok, the modern workforce is used to consuming information via video. This doesn’t have to be limited to personal lives. The ability to quickly create (or create high-quality, long-form) videos isn’t limited to content creators.

Instead, a modern intranet allows you to create a video from your desk and share it with hundreds of people within minutes. You can auto-apply captions, speed up the video, and comment and like, just like on YouTube.

Podcast creation and sharing

Sometimes we don’t have enough time to dedicate to watching videos. But that doesn’t mean your message goes unheard.

The very best social intranet platforms also include podcast creation and publishing. You can choose to create a company series with insight from different staff or record one-off episodes that mean everyone can listen to them while carrying on with their day job.

Integration into line of business apps

Turning on a new social intranet might mean the end for some apps with duplicate functionality. But we also realize that the majority of your tools are here to stay. Make sure your intranet platform of choice has ready-built integrations with your most popular apps.

Workvivo integrates with:

• Zoom
• Microsoft Teams
• Slack
• OBS
• Wirecast
• Confluence
• Jira
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Drupal
• ServiceNow
• Box
• Microsoft OneDrive

… and more!

There’s a whole host of Workvivo integrations available out of the box and through custom programming.

Top 6 social intranet solutions on the market

1 - Workvivo

Known for its focus on employee experience, Workvivo, now part of Zoom, goes beyond traditional intranet functionalities to create a more engaging and interactive social intranet platform.

You get traditional features we’ve come to expect from intranet software like:

• Company news feeds
• Mobile support
• Knowledge management repository
• Targeted announcements
• Analytics and performance measurement

But you also get social features like:

• Instant messaging
• Employee recognition tools
• Pulse surveys
• Discussion forums
• Social networking feeds
• Video and podcast creation

What’s more, there’s a host of interactive features that make checking and using your intranet a more enjoyable experience. After all, if it’s hard or annoying to use, adoption figures are going to plummet.

Key features

Workvivo introduces a social intranet that can truly become the digital heart of your company.

Standout features include:

• Live Streaming: Enable your CEO to broadcast the next all-hands with live Q&A, in-meeting polls, and interactive comments and likes.
• Newsletter: Provide regular, easy-to-read text-based updates while benefiting from embedded videos, infographics, and polls.
• Podcast: Cater to all consumption preferences by hosting your own internal podcasts; featuring guests from different departments and job types.
• Digital Signage: Physical boards and screens that allow on-the-go workers to view the latest company updates.
• Chat: Instantly reach and engage your entire workforce wherever they are - at the office, at home, or on the frontline.
• Activity Feed: A curated timeline of department, company-wide, or personal posts shared by peers, managers, and executives.

Best for

Organizations looking to boost employee engagement, improve internal communication, and build a strong company culture. Workvivo is particularly a winner with companies that have a younger or more tech-savvy workforce.

2 - Microsoft SharePoint

SharePoint is the first name on everybody’s lips when you say the word “intranet.” But does it deserve its place in a list of social intranets?

There’s been a major overhaul of interfaces and functionality at Microsoft — across all its apps and programs. The social intranet category is no different. It now includes both SharePoint and Viva Engage (Yammer’s replacement).

SharePoint is Microsoft’s flagship document storage and collaboration tool that can also act as a social intranet. Within SharePoint you can choose to create any number of “sites” from templates or custom builds. These make up the foundation of what users will see as their intranet.

You have obvious integrations with other Microsoft apps like Word and Excel. But you can also include attachments from emails in Outlook and generic notes from OneNote. If you store any files in a Microsoft tool, SharePoint allows you to surface these in a central view.

Aside from its document storage ability, you get version control and search capabilities as standard.

Key features

While some businesses use SharePoint only for document storage, it’s a genuine intranet solution as well.

• Workflow automation
• Automated content management
• Co-author documents in real time
• External access permissions for contractors and clients

Best for

Microsoft houses who are going all in on Microsoft. If you create documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. and use Teams as your collaboration platform, using SharePoint as the backbone is a no-brainer.

You may already be using SharePoint without knowing it. When you create a file folder or channel in Teams, it’s creating an underlying SharePoint site.

3 - MyHub

MyHub is a single publishing platform where employees can gain access to critical information on any device. With quick links and customizable favorites, MyHub can become a personal feed of what any individual user wishes to see.

One of the most common use cases for MyHub is integrating into existing line of business apps. Take Microsoft Teams, a hub for collaboration but lacking the social intranet side of things.

Sure, Microsoft houses may already have SharePoint underpinning its file hierarchy and document repository, but many users crave a better look and feel.

Key features

• Company shout-outs
• Newsfeeds
• Blog posts
• Calendars
• Automated forms
• Staff directories

Best for

Microsoft houses looking for a more modern and intuitive front end in comparison to the clunky legacy feel of SharePoint.

4 - Simpplr

Simpplr leverages AI to personalize the intranet experience and prioritize employee engagement. Its goal is to provide a social intranet experience that doesn’t overwhelm employees with information and updates that may not be relevant to them.

Its AI engine analyzes user preferences to deliver targeted content. This means employees only see information relevant to their roles or interests.

By personalizing the intranet experience and providing data-driven insights, Simpplr is a good choice for organizations seeking an intelligent approach to intranet communication and content management.

Key features

• Employee onboarding tools
• Automated issue resolution
• Templated no-code configuration
• Employee rewards and recognition
• Analytics to measure the effectiveness of communication efforts
• Integrations with apps like SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox

Best for

Simpplr is valuable for companies with a large and diverse workforce. The personalized news feed takes the hassle out of manual filtering to find and share information.

If there's a fear of negativity in your business, take advantage of sentiment analysis to gauge the perception of your business.

5 - Jive

Jive emphasizes interactive features and social networking capabilities to create a community-driven intranet. There’s less of a one-way communication feel and more of a social network appeal.

Rather than stopping at static announcements and traditional forums, Jive offers features like:

• Social profiles
• Activity streams
• Gamification tactics like points and badges

Rather than focusing on forcing engagement, Jive aims to encourage user participation, knowledge sharing, and collaboration across departments by rewarding users for adoption. The more you use your intranet, the more rewards you can earn.

Key features

As well as acting as a business social media platform, Jive comes with the following task and project management features:

• Built-in search
• Cloud storage
• File management
• Internal messaging
• Integrated calendar
• Document management
• Mobile app
• Integration with project management apps like SharePoint, Lucidchart, and SmarterPath

You also get a mobile app and integration with project management apps like SharePoint, Lucidchart, and SmarterPath.

Best for

With its focus on social interaction and user engagement, Jive is a good fit for organizations looking to create a more collaborative work environment.

If getting people to take part in company social networking is a major issue, Jive’s social intranet experience may be a good fit.

6 - Happeo

Happeo positions itself as a next-generation social intranet platform designed for the modern digital workplace powered by advanced AI functionality.

Its strength is its tight integration with Google Workspace, with over 400 customers using the combination. You can use Happeo as your central hub for pulling documents from all parts of the Google stack (Docs, Sheets, Drive, etc.) and present them in an intranet-style interface.

On top of this, you get a customizable dashboard, task management, social tools, and real-time communication channels.

Key features

You might view Happeo as an overlay window into the comings and goings of your Google Drive estate. But Happeo also comes with a host of other features:

• Employee communities
• Mobile app
• Find like-minded people
• Automated organization chart
• Pages, channels, and posts
• Measurement analytics
• Integration with other line of business apps like Jira, Confluence, and Zendesk

Best for

Organizations that are invested in Google’s suite of productivity apps and rely on storing files in Google’s cloud without categories, labeling, and proper naming conventions.

Get a live demo of your next social intranet

Having reviewed what you can get from a social intranet platform, it’s clear we’ve come a long way since the document-dumping days of the traditional internal website.

We’re passionate about Workvivo being a collaboration hub; one that’s free from the shackles of legacy solutions and built with people at the digital heart of your business.

But rather than listing off more features and benefits and telling you how great our platform is, we’re inviting you to see it firsthand.

Ready to combine social + intranet?

Book your free demo here.