“InterNations” the expat social networking organisation is going from strength to strength. Just 1-year after clocking up its 1-millionth member it pushed membership up by 50 per cent and now has over 1.5 million members in its 390 city worldwide operations.
In February this year “InterNations” released a new membership profile enabling members to better share their international living and travel experiences. A timeline paired with an interactive world map allows members to share their international living experiences, show all the destinations where a member has lived, travelled to or plans to visit in the future.
The first signs of impact from this upgrade are very promising says Founder and Co-CEO of “InterNations”, Philipp von Plato: “The new networking features, which we released at the end of last year have more than tripled the volume of messages and connections between our members.
“It’s great to see how strongly the improved product affects our users’ behaviour and retention. The higher level of activity will allow us to scale and grow ”InterNations” to new levels in the future.
“While the Facebook profile focuses on social life and LinkedIn represents one’s professional background, our new ”InterNations“ profile is all about international living and travelling,” says von Plato.
“It is designed around our members’ shared international lifestyle, spending their lives as expats abroad. The new profile helps them to connect with other internationally minded people.”
Together with the new profile, several other features have also been launched: With the help of new search options and recommendation algorithms, users can find more easily, members with mutual interests and similar backgrounds. The event calendar has also been revised to make it easier for members to find and attend events and activities in any one of the 390 “InterNations” communities.
Feedback from the insider survey
“InterNations” feedback from the 2014 Expat Insider survey of 14,000 members provides some interesting revelations:
Mexico - Nine in 10 people who move to Mexico are pleased with their new home – the highest rating of all countries worldwide. Moreover, the country also takes the lead when it comes to the general friendliness of the local population.
Philippines - The world’s happiest globetrotters can be found in the Philippines. This country is also home to the most harmonic couples: 56 per cent are completely satisfied with their relationship. The global average is barely 40 per cent; so moving to the Philippines might be just the thing to do before starting a family.
New Zealand - The local population is considered one of the most welcoming across the globe. Unsurprisingly, more than three in four people find it easy to settle down in New Zealand.
Australia - ‘Down Under’ offers some of the best leisure options in the world, whether it’s Sydney’s bar scene or skydiving in Melbourne. Living in Australia is not just a lot of fun, but will greatly improve your quality of life as well: The country ranks second in the list of the healthiest and safest places worldwide.
Costa Rica - Costa Rica is the place to go to if you love socialising and meeting new friends. One of the best global rankings in terms of work-life balance gives you enough leisure time to enjoy the ease of finding new friends among the friendly local residents over a cocktail made from the country’s official liquor, ‘Guaro’.
Colombia - For those ready for a real change of scenery, Colombia might be an unusual, but fitting destination. Foreigners living in the country have the highest number of local friends worldwide and are also among the happiest travellers overall.
Germany - Life in Germany seems to be a life without sorrows: Nearly 100 per cent of foreigners living there do not worry about their personal safety and the country offers one of the best job security ratings all over the globe. Furthermore, 8 in 10 people think the quality of medical care in Germany is good or excellent – on a global scale, only 50 per cent rate their destination the same way.
Denmark - Everyone knows that the Nordic countries are very family-friendly. But popular Sweden is not on top of the list – actually, it’s Denmark which ranks first in family well-being. The costs for childcare and education are considered very affordable, and last but not least, Denmark is one of the top countries when it comes to work-life balance.
Kazakhstan - A great destination for boosting your career and making a financial profit in the bargain: Kazakhstan is one of the leading countries where companies provide housing for employees sent abroad. Additionally, three in four foreigners in Kazakhstan are satisfied with their financial situation – a lot more than the global average of 45 per cent.
Hungary – In Hungary you get a lot of value for money: Housing options for foreign residents are among the cheapest worldwide, and the country has an excellent travel and transport system as well.
Further information: www.internations.org
