Socie is used more than 135,000 times daily by more than 5,000 communities.
To get a better understanding of what our communities are doing with their communities, we conducted a detailed analysis.
At Socie, we distinguish 7 main categories for our communities: Businesses, Residents & Villages, Networking Organizations, Education, Religious, Associations and Care & Wellness.
We took a close look at each of these communities to see how they use the Socie platform.
From each category, we discovered both common and unique ways they use the Socie app and apply the modules.
How do you deploy a community app?
To better understand the deployment of community apps, we analyzed usage.
In particular, we looked at what modules (applications) our different communities use and how they set them up in different ways.
You can read about these later in this blog!
Versatile and creative use of the same module
One of the most striking insights we gained was the versatility in which modules are used.
For example, one community uses the “Message Board module” to post news, another uses the same module to share job postings, and yet another uses it to share parking spaces and place calls.
Thus, many other striking and fun findings emerged that gave us good insights into how our app is being used.
How do communities use a community app?
The main question we wanted to answer is how different communities we know are using the community app.
Herewith the most important findings for:
Community app for businesses
One of our largest community categories is the business sector.
This includes a wide range of organizations, including manufacturers, offices, business incubators, service providers, technology companies and more.
These business communities use the Socie app especially effectively to improve their internal communications and drive engagement among employees.
Sharing documents ranks number one
One of the most striking findings from our data analysis is that document sharing is the most important activity within enterprise communities.
The ‘Documents module’ appears to be the most frequently added and used module.
On average, the module itself is added and applied multiple times in the Socie app.
Companies use this module to share various documents.
These include schedules, rosters, protocols, rules of conduct and much more information.
With this, all employees have easy access to the most current and relevant documents within the company.
News and websites give you all the current events
In addition to the “Documents module,” the “News & blogs module” and the “Website module” are also frequently added by business communities.
These modules are added an average of 1.5 times per community.
The ‘News & blogs module’ is used to share important updates and news items, while the ‘Website module’ allows companies to make their online websites easily accessible to all members.
Nice to see! Some companies use the “News & blogs module” as an internal job page or to introduce new colleagues.
This is an example of ways in which the company ensures direct engagement of the new staff with the rest of the colleagues.
Furthermore, companies mainly use the app to send notifications to (some of) the staff.
Interaction within the community is further enhanced by the ability to respond with emojis or post other comments.
The 5 most used modules for businesses:
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Documents (15.2%)
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News & blogs (12.8%)
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Websites (11.3%)
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Moments/Pickboard (10.1%)
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Events/Agenda (9.3%)
Community app for residents & villages
The residents category is one of our fastest growing categories.
We have noticed an increasing need these days to create a close-knit community among neighborhood residents.
Residents as well as VVEs and developers are much in search of a means by which all communication can come together in one central place.
That’s where the Socie app comes in handy.
Among resident communities, the ‘Message Board module’ is by far the most used.
On average, the ‘Notice Board Module’ is on three times per community and is used in a variety of ways.
Many communities use the notice board module as a neighborhood prevention site.
Here local residents can report dangerous or suspicious situations.
It is also used, for example, to post general appeals and to discuss important decisions.
In addition to the “Message board module,” the “Calendar module” and “Documents module” are very popular.
These are used to organize neighborhood meetings or other events and share important documents such as fire plans, phone lists and other property management contact information.
Tip: It is surprising to see that the ‘Marketplace module’ is relatively little used.
Many resident communities turn the ‘Message Board module’ into a Marketplace, but are not aware that we have a special module for this.
Try this one out too!
The 5 most commonly used modules for residents:
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Moments/Pickboard (25.3%)
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Events/Agenda (9.8%)
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Documents (9.8%)
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Websites (9.8%)
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Member list (8.0%)
Community app for networking organizations
Network organizations are making incredibly good use of the Socie app.
Through our analysis and by conducting interviews with a number of networking organizations, we found out exactly what networking organizations are doing and looking for in our app.
The most frequently added modules are the ‘News & blogs module,’ the ‘Calendar module,’ and the ‘Message board module.’
In fourth place is the ‘Member List’, which is mainly used by business clubs and is seen as a useful tool to connect with people within the network.
The ‘Agenda and News & blogs module’ are by far the most frequently added and used to share relevant news and organize meetings.
For the ‘Agenda module’, the on and off function is very much used.
This feature is useful for business clubs to record attendance for networking events.
In addition, it is useful for members to be able to see who is and is not going to the event.
What is striking and nice to see is that the ‘Photo album module’ is very much used by the members of the network communities.
Even though this module is not turned on in every community, it is used a lot by members to share photos and albums with the rest of the community.
The 5 most commonly used modules for networked communities:
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News & blogs (12.5%)
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Events/Agenda (12.5%)
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Information (10.9%)
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Media and Photos (9.8%)
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Moments/Pickboard (8.0%)
Community app for education
The education community is one of the less common categories within our platform.
The concept of education is very broad, which is reflected in the different communities within this category.
A large part of this category consists of coaching communities, which range from fitness coaching to educational coaching.
In short, it is a versatile category.
Our analysis showed that the “Documents module” is by far the most used.
Here, in addition to standard educational materials, many educational videos are also shared.
In addition, the ‘News & blogs module’ and ‘Message board module’ are very well used.
These modules are added an average of 1.5 times to each community.
The 5 most used modules for education communities:
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Documents (34.9%)
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News & blogs (11.6%)
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Moments/Pickboard (7.0%)
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Events/Agenda (7.0%)
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Information (7.0%)
Community app for religious institutions
Despite our myRKK Parish app, many religious communities are still being created at Socie.
Most of this category consists of inspiration networks and religious institutions.
The most commonly used modules within this category, are the “News & blogs module,” the “Calendar module” and the “Documents module.
The 5 most used modules for religious communities:
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News & blogs (27.6%)
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Events/Agenda (8.6%)
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Documents (8.6%)
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Websites (7.6%)
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Member list (6.7%)
It is nice to see how widely used the app is within this category.
The ‘News & blogs module’ is on average added no less than 4 (!) times per community.
Within each module, then, different news is shared.
One ‘News & blogs module’ is used to share community news, for example about new members, marriages, births and other important events within the community.
Yet another ‘News & blogs module’ is used to share news about special services or information about Bible studies.
The ‘Calendar module’ is also very well used.
It is mainly used to schedule services and prayer groups and to record attendance at these.
Through the “Agenda module” members can register for a service at the push of a button and immediately see who and how many members will attend.
Members of religious communities actively participate by opening many notifications, downloading documents, but most prominently by using the member list.
In it, they can look up other community members and (if visible) access contact information.
Compared to the other communities, the use of the member list within this category is very high.
Why is also a mystery to us….
Community app for associations
The associations category is by far the most common community within Socie.
The largest three subcategories are student associations, sports associations and music associations.
Mainly among student associations, the app is hugely used.
The three most used modules are the “News & blogs module,” the “Websites module” and the ‘Agenda module.
It is striking that the ‘Agenda module’ is used much more than the other two modules, in fact it is used three times more than the other two.
This is mainly due to event registration.
Especially in sports and student associations, mandatory registration is often required for training sessions or parties, therefore this module is very much used by members.
The 5 most commonly used modules for association communities:
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News & blogs (12.0%)
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Websites (11.6%)
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Events/Agenda (11.4%)
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Moments/Pickboard (11.4%)
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Documents (10.2%)
Associations send many push notifications
Compared to other types of communities, notifications are sent remarkably often in associations.
For associations, this is a convenient way to keep its members informed and involved in the community.
For example, members always receive push notifications of important news or when they need to pass on their attendance to an event.
So members don’t have to keep an eye on the app for this themselves, but receive automatic reminders.
One of the least used modules across all categories is the “Birthdays module.
Only in student associations and companies is this module used very often.
It is nice to see how involved the members of student associations are with each other, both the ‘Member list’ and the ‘Birthdays module’ are used tremendously well.
Through the member list, members know exactly who is on the board, year club or committee and have instant access to their contact information.
The same goes for sports and music clubs.
Community app for healthcare & wellness
The health & wellness communities also vary widely.
For example, there are child care centers using the app, as well as mental health facilities and voluntary organizations.
The most frequently added modules are the ‘Documents module’, the ‘News & blogs module’ and the ‘Calendar module’.
In particular, the ‘Documents module’ is very well used, it is on average almost twice added to each community and is most used by members to download and share documents.
The documents shared vary widely, but mainly consist of information brochures, newsletters, registration forms and e-learnings for employees.
A unique way the “Calendar module” is used by these communities is by creating separate calendars for appointments with patients or parents of children, in order to monitor appointments and keep them organized for community members.
What is also nice to see is how many child care centers are using the “Photo Album module. Because of privacy concerns, we don’t have visibility into what photos are being shared, but we suspect that fun photos are being shared of activities with children so parents can see what their children are doing and learning.
The 5 most used modules of care & well-being communities:
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Documents (15.8%)
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News & blogs (13.2%)
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Events/Agenda (11.8%)
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Moments/Pickboard (11.8%)
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Information (9.2%)
Many valuable insights around communities
Our research into the use of the Socie app by various communities has given us many valuable insights.
It is clear that the app can be used perfectly well as a practical tool for information and communication.
In addition, the app plays a great role in strengthening connectedness and facilitating communication and collaboration.
Each his own community
There are similarities in outline, but each community has its own unique requirements and configuration.
So we are proud of the versatility of our Socie platform and the ways it is being deployed.
In doing so, we see our app having a positive impact on communities.
We would like to give extra thanks to Rogier for conducting this community survey.
At Socie, we remain committed to continuing to develop and improve our app to further meet the needs of our users.
