Group Insights: Definition of messages needed

[Shawna Jackson]

Hi all - I've read this documentation regarding the definitions for the new Group Insights feature, but I'm looking for a definition of "messages." We've done comparisons between the Yammer data export and Group Insights/O365 activity data and are seeing a discrepancy that we suspect are replies, which would also affect read and liked data.

• Can someone please confirm if "messages" is defined as simply the original post or original post + replies?
• If a user leaves the organization at some point during the reporting period, is their activity still counted if they performed any actions in the group (assuming their Yammer account was deactivated)?

Thanks!

[#2]

Also curious to know how the number of messages read are captured?

[#3 · Accepted solution]

@Connie Woo states in her latest response to this thread:

"Messages posted is inclusive of the original post and replies. If a user leaves the organization, their activity is still counted. We do not retroactively delete their activity counts."

[#4]

Worth treating reads with a pinch of salt - IMHO it is not an auditable read*. Yammer uses a mechanism to detect when you scroll over / past a message. It's that mechanism that helps move messages from the New Conversations to the All Conversations threads. You also have the 'Marked as read' feature which further muddies the validity of the 'read' signal.

The read signal is useful if you are looking at group health from a overview perspective e.g. posts without reads and posts with reads but no replies should be taken as warnings about the health of the group (unless the group is purely for broadcasting). Reads happening a period of time after the post gives you a feel for the group's priority in the eyes of the end user. By that I mean if you post one day but it is not until two or three days later you see the reads spike then the group is not a daily go to location or perhaps they only visit the group on Fridays (which helps with scheduling for maximum impact). In busy groups it is hard to see the subtleties when it comes to reads so perhaps watch for the ratios - reads split by new and existing members and number of posts to reads..

* By auditable I mean being able to *prove* that someone actually dwelled long enough to read the entire message.

[#5]

The "Read Messages" metric is a measure of the *frequency* with which group messages are read. The time element of this metric is the truly telling piece as Simon mentions.

[#6]

excellent explanation...thx Simon.

So I read somewhere saying if I "read" an item it will clock up 1 on the read count, but if I then come across the same post a couple of days later and "like" it, the read count will go to 0, and the like count will go to 1. 

Does anyone know if this is true ie. does an increase in the like count, cause a decrease in the read count?

If so, does that mean it could be possible that the analytics in a group may show higher likes than read?

...and also take caution in reading "read" counts on their own, as more people read messages than you think (ie. a like is considered a "read and liked")

[#7]

re: You also have the 'Marked as read' feature which further muddies the validity of the 'read' signal.

Does this mean if I read a post (the read count goes up), and if I then mark as unread (as a way to flag it for me to reply to later when I have time), that the read count goes down again? ...which means in reality I have actually read it, but the stats aren't reflecting that.

I read that the "Mark All as Read" does not affect the read count

Mark all as read feature is in the Yammer inbox...I don't know if I'm recalling correctly but does this feature also exist within a group page?

[#8]

Yes, it's called "clear new".

[#9]

thx as always Tom!!!!!!!

[#10]

Finding this a very useful thread, but I'd like to confirm what I'm finding about "messages" attributes.

Below, I've pulled the full report from a Yammer group using Yammer Group Insights. At first glance, I was confused, as "Messages Read" was much higher than "Messages Posted" (same as "Messages Liked"). To me, both "Messages Read" and "Messages Liked" can only be as high as "Messages Posted"  because there are only so many messages to read and like.

After thinking about it a little bit, I'm wondering if I should be interpreting this to mean Message READS: as in the collective number of individual reads that a message receives from all members. I just found the wording a little confusing and wanted to confirm that this was the correct interpretation. Thanks!

[#11]

Just wanted to let you know that this was the correct interpretation, according to the Group Insights FAQ: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Yammer-Blog/Measure-and-grow-engagement-with-group-insights-i...

Hope this helps someone else in case you were wondering!

[#12]

Semantics matter in this instance. I'd advocate for a change to the label.