Microsoft will soon have its own Facebook rival called Viva Engage. The announcement comes from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella who revealed the company’s plans to launch its own social media platform as part of Microsoft Teams.
Viva Engage aims to enhance the experience that was offered by Microsoft’s outgoing Yammer Communities. According to Yammer and Viva’s CVP Murali Sitaram, the goal is to bring “new capabilities to connect people, find and share knowledge, express [oneself], and find belonging at work.”
Unlike Twitter or Facebook, Viva Engage will be a business-oriented social network similar to LinkedIn.
It is set to help organizations build community, spark engagement with leadership, harness knowledge and answers, and build personal networks
Viva will replace the currently existing Communities section in Teams and it will roll out in “late August”. It will be available on all versions of Microsoft Teams including mobile apps, web apps, and desktop apps.
Users already using the Communities tab will not have to make any changes as the switch will be automatic.
Although Yammer is being replaced in Teams, it will still be available in browsers and mobile apps. All the content posted on Yammer will still be visible in the new Viva Engage tab.
Going forward, Microsoft says that it has “much more to share soon” so we can expect to see more developments coming this way for Teams or other Microsoft products.