How Do Internal Communications Professionals Engage on Social Media?

Somewhere in the hinterland between HR, PR, Content, and Technology lies that most mysterious and misunderstood part of the web: the Intranet.

Why is it here? Where did it come from? Who is in charge of it?!?

Meet the specialists working to take your Intranet of the dim, dreary past and create a modern, digital workplace for the future: Internal Communications pros. They’re on a mission to drive #digitaltransformation, to bring #socialmedia to the enterprise, and to innovate the *&$% out of your tired old document dumping grounds.

We analyzed a panel of over 800 Internal Communications professionals on social media* to gain insight into what they’re talking about, what they’re consuming and sharing on social media, and who influences them. Here’s what we learned…

What Do Internal Communications Professionals Talk About on Social Media?

Like most people, IC professionals are using social to talk about things that are in the news and happening on the calendar – but they’re also sharing and tagging content related to their role (#InternalCommunications, #PR, #EmployeeEngagement, #HR), their broader mission (#socbiz, #FutureOfWork), and the tools of the trade (#ESN, #yammer, #SharePoint, #Office365).

Which Publications Are Popular with IC Professionals?

We all know, intuitively, that what we see and read online impacts how we do our job; how we view emerging trends, who we turn to for advice, even which products to shortlist for our next RFP. With that in mind, where are Internal Communications pros getting their news, opinions, and recommendations?

Honorable mention to a few other popular sources that focus squarely on this audience but just missed the top 25 cutoff, including: CIPR Inside, simply-communicate.com, TalentCulture and The Institute of Internal Communication.

Internal Communication Influencers

This is where the people demonstrating day-to-day leadership of the IC community really shine. We’ve highlighted 25 Internal Communications Influencers below (and we’ve also created a handy Internal Communications Twitter list if you’d like to follow them!)

So what now?

If you’re a budding IC professional, you’ve got a great set of resources to tap in to the hive-mind of the community and start making some internal communication magic happen. And if you’re a marketer that wants to reach this audience, you’re better armed with insights around the topics this audience cares about, where to syndicate and distribute your content, and who to build relationships with for your influencer programs.

This post originally appeared on the DNN Software Blog