Over the past five years, there has been a shift in the usage of Microsoft’s Viva Engage platform towards an official corporate communications channel rather than a knowledge-sharing platform, the world’s largest analysis of Microsoft Viva Engage has found.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people were flocking to Viva Engage to connect and communicate with colleagues in conversations but in the five years since, there has been an increase in Viva Engage being used as an official corporate communications channel.

The usage pattern of Viva Engage is now more reflective of a focus on publishing a message rather than seeking engaging two-way conversations.

SWOOP Analytics research found the percentage of people who have actively contributed to Viva Engage has increased over the past three years to 31.2% in the data set analyzed.

With almost a third of employees benchmarked actively using Viva Engage rather than passively reading, and more than 34% of people seeing the most popular posts, it confirms Viva Engage as an essential part of the internal communications channels mix.

SWOOP Analytics’ latest research, based on six months of real-life data to July 1, 2025, shows while more people are using Viva Engage, fewer people are engaging in two-way conversations. Instead, people are more likely to be reading and reacting to conversations, rather than sharing their ideas.

These trends highlight the need for renewed focus on fostering genuine, reciprocal interactions to maintain Viva Engage as a vibrant platform for enterprise communication and collaboration.

In SWOOP Analytics’ 2025/26 Viva Engage Benchmarking Report the world’s top performing Viva Engage networks have been identified, along with the top performing communities.

SWOOP Analytics has also addressed the issue of information and noise overload across Viva Engage and internal communications channels, along with a new app that reveals the true cost of information overload in internal communications.

SWOOP Analytics’ benchmarking report will show you how to get the most from your Viva Engage network, give you achievable goals to set your own benchmarks, and shares best practices from the world's top Viva Engage users.

“We have seen growth in Viva Engage participation over the past year which is especially impressive given the large number of communications channels available to employees, while at the same time, the conversational nature of Viva Engage is lessening,” said SWOOP Analytics CEO Cai Kjaer. “Our benchmarking report and Viva Engage Success Guides give tips and practical advice on how to improve employee engagement on Viva Engage, making them an essential companion for anyone involved in internal communications.”

SWOOP Analytics analyzed almost 17 million Viva Engage interactions from almost three million employees and 5,758 communities across 73 organizations in a six-month period.

SWOOP Analytics’ 2025/26 Viva Engage Benchmarking Report is available now to download for FREE at https://www.swoopanalytics.com/viva-engage-bm-25.

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This report is the world's most comprehensive, long-term analysis of Viva Engage, drawing on almost 17 million interactions from almost three million employees across 5,758 Viva Engage communities over six months.