Executive Summary
We analyzed 25 social impact communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: social impact communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 25
- Platforms
- 10
- Avg members
- 13K
- Median members
- 2K
Where Social Impact Communities Are Hosted
- Slack: 6 communities (24%)
- Independent Platforms: 6 communities (24%)
- Discord: 4 communities (16%)
- Circle: 3 communities (12%)
- LinkedIn: 2 communities (8%)
- Nas.io: 1 communities (4%)
- Reddit: 1 communities (4%)
- Quora: 1 communities (4%)
- Facebook: 1 communities (4%)
- Mighty Networks: 1 communities (4%)
- 6(24%)
Slack - 6(24%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 4(16%)
Discord - 3(12%)Circle
- 2(8%)
LinkedIn - 1(4%)
Nas.io - 1(4%)
Reddit - 1(4%)
Quora
Format mix
- 9(36%)Chat communities
- 9(36%)Forum / feed-based
- 4(16%)Private membership
- 3(12%)Other platforms
Chat communities is most common (36%), but forum / feed-based is also well represented (36%).
Slack leads, but Independent Platforms and Discord also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
- Small: 1 communities (4%)
- Medium: 4 communities (16%)
- Large: 11 communities (44%)
- Huge: 2 communities (8%)
- Massive: 1 communities (4%)
- Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
- 0(0%)Tiny<20 members
- 1(4%)Small20-100 members
- 4(16%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 11(44%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 2(8%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 1(4%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 0(0%)Gigantic1M+ members
6 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 21 communities (84%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 4 communities (16%)
The average is much higher than the median (13K vs 2K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Social Impact Differs From Other Categories
Social Impact is smaller, more platform-diverse, and more chat-heavy, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Social Impact | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 84% | 84% |
| Median members | 2K | 25K |
| Average members | 13K | 668K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 16% | 16% |
| Live chat | 64% | 41% |
| Discord share | 16% | 17% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Live Chat: 16 communities (64%)
- Online/Offline Events: 16 communities (64%)
- Forum: 13 communities (52%)
- Newsletter: 7 communities (28%)
- Job Board: 6 communities (24%)
- Courses: 4 communities (16%)
- 64%Live Chat
- 64%Online/Offline Events
- 52%Forum
- 28%Newsletter
- 24%Job Board
- 16%Courses
Niche Features
- Paid Community: 3 communities (12%)
- Pairing: 3 communities (12%)
- Member Perks: 2 communities (8%)
- Requires Application: 2 communities (8%)
- Tools: 2 communities (8%)
- 12%Paid Community
- 12%Pairing
- 8%Member Perks
- 8%Requires Application
- 8%Tools
Live Chat appears on 64% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 37
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slack | 6 | 24% | 10 | 28% |
| Independent Platforms | 6 | 24% | 1 | 3% |
| Discord | 4 | 16% | 18 | 50% |
| Circle | 3 | 12% | 2 | 6% |
| 1 | 4% | 1 | 3% | |
| Quora | 1 | 4% | 1 | 3% |
| 1 | 4% | 1 | 3% | |
| Mighty Networks | 1 | 4% | 2 | 6% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 50% of clicks but only 16% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 28(78%)Chat communities
- 4(11%)Forum / feed-based
- 4(11%)Private membership
Most-clicked features
- 33(92%)Live Chat
- 30(83%)Online/Offline Events
- 10(28%)Newsletter
- 7(19%)Forum
- 4(11%)Member Perks
- 2(6%)Courses
Most-clicked size ranges
- 23(64%)Large
- 9(25%)Huge
- 2(6%)Medium
- 1(3%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 8(22%)RIVET Hub
- 5(14%)VINTAGE ™
- 5(14%)Young World Federalists
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
Not enough founding-year data to chart yet.
Community Quality & Ratings
Only 1 community has ratings so far, so read this as a small sample.
5.0 average rating across 1 community.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Social Impact. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
- •This is a smaller slice of Hive Index's database, so read trends as directional.