The best online communities for Internal Communications and Employee Experience professionals
If you're searching for an online community focused on internal communications and employee engagement, you've got options. But they're not all the same, and the differences matter depending on what you actually need.
Here's an honest breakdown of what's out there -- including communities we think are worth your time even when they're not us.
First, a category distinction worth making
When people search for "internal communications communities," the results often surface tools and platforms -- Workplace from Meta (old), Workvivo, Slack, etc. These are software products for building employee communication inside your organization. They're not communities for practitioners.
Professional associations like IABC, PRSA, and IoIC are a different category again: formal membership organizations with certifications, chapters, and conferences. Valuable, but structured differently than peer community.
What most IC professionals are actually looking for is a practitioner community: a place to connect with peers, get unstuck on real challenges, and stay current on what's working in the field. That's what this list is focused on.
Practitioner communities for internal communicators
ICology — (paid) The online community for internal communications and employee engagement professionals. Built for practitioners doing the work every day -- from people early in their IC career to directors who've built programs at scale. Regular programming, a curated peer network, and resources grounded in the actual realities of the profession. The core editorial position is always the employee perspective. Not a platform. Not a vendor. A peer community.
CommsChat by Workshop — (free) A community for internal communicators run by the Workshop team.
The Curious Tribe by Joanna Parsons — (paid) A practitioner community from Joanna Parsons of The Curious Route.
Mixing Board by Axios — (paid) A community for communications professionals, affiliated with Axios.
Employee Experience Community by Gallagher — (paid) Community resource connected to Gallagher's employee experience practice. Worth knowing it has a consultancy connection when evaluating fit.
CommsUnity by Staffbase — (free) Community affiliated with the Staffbase platform. Worth knowing it has a vendor connection when evaluating fit.
Ragan Insider by Ragan Communications — (paid) Membership community attached to Ragan's editorial and events operation.
#WeLeadComms — (social) A LinkedIn-based community focused on diversity and inclusion in communications leadership. Less structured than a formal membership community, but an active and worthwhile space for connection and conversation.
The EX Space — (free/paid) A community for employee experience professionals.
Asian Communications Network — (social) LinkedIn-based community centered on Asian communications professionals.
r/internalcomms — (free) Public community with a mix of practitioners and lurkers. Good for quick questions. Quality of conversation varies.
Professional associations for internal communicators
These are formal membership organizations, not peer communities in the same sense -- but they're where many IC professionals build credentials and find local connections. All are paid memberships unless noted.
IoIC (Institute of Internal Communication) — (paid ) UK-based, focused specifically on internal comms
CIPR Inside — (paid) Specialty group for internal comms within the Chartered Institute of Public Relations
IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) — (paid) Find a local chapter
PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) — (paid) Explore the Employee Communications Section
CPRS (Canadian Public Relations Society) — (paid) Canada-based
A note on how ICology thinks about this
We think we're pretty great -- but we're not for everyone, and we'd rather you find the place where you actually belong than sign up and not get value from it.
The internal communications profession works best when practitioners are connected, supported, and learning from each other. That happens in a lot of different places. The more of those places that are thriving, the better it is for the people doing this work.
If you work in internal comms and you've found a membership-based community worth knowing about that's not on this list, let us know.
What makes ICology different
ICology is the practitioner-first community for internal communications and employee engagement. That means a few specific things:
The editorial position is always the employee perspective. Not the platform, not leadership, not the vendor. The person receiving the communication.
The community is independent. No software company owns it, and no vendor shapes the conversation.
Every single dollar of membership revenue gets reinvested back into the community.
It's built for people doing the work -- not consultants pitching it, not researchers studying it, not executives sponsoring it. The IC practitioner in the middle of it, trying to figure out what works.