This FAQ covers the most common questions about using Zencity Organic—from how data is collected and monitored, to how you can analyze trends, manage publishing, and create reports.
General Overview
What is Zencity Organic?
Zencity Organic is a social listening and analytics tool designed for local governments. It aggregates and analyzes public discourse from social media, news outlets, and other online sources to provide insights into community sentiment, emerging topics, and trends, helping cities make more informed decisions.
What tools and features are available in Organic?
Organic includes tools for social media listening, keyword tracking, sentiment analysis, customizable dashboards, and reporting. It also provides content publishing and management tools to schedule and manage social posts, a press release generator, and access to analyst-curated insights. Organic offers alert subscriptions, trend monitoring, and a dashboard that can be easily filtered for the topics that matter most.
How is Organic different from Zencity Engage?
Organic focuses on communications management and passive data collection from online conversations, while Engage is designed for proactive community engagement through surveys and project pages. Organic helps you understand what people are already saying, and Engage helps you ask targeted questions to gather structured feedback.
Further Reading:
Data Sources & Integration
What types of data sources does Organic monitor?
Organic collects data from publicly available and permitted sources, including:
- Social media: Facebook (pages and public groups), Twitter/X, Instagram (business profiles), LinkedIn, Nextdoor, Threads, and BlueSky
- News outlets and online publications
- 311 data (if integrated)
- Google Reviews (upon request)
How do I manage data sources in Organic?
You can view and manage all connected social media sources by navigating to the Data Sources section under Settings. There, you'll see a list of all currently connected pages and platforms. You can also add new public sources directly from this page—such as a public Facebook page, Twitter/X account,or owned Instagram account—by entering the URL and submitting a request. For sources not supported through this interface (like Instagram hashtags, Facebook groups, and Bluesky accounts), you can submit a support ticket for assistance.
Does Organic monitor private Facebook groups or personal profiles?
No. Organic only collects publicly available data to comply with platform policies and privacy laws. Private profiles, closed groups, and personal pages are not monitored.
Can I add more specific sources like public Facebook groups or Instagram hashtags?
Yes, but you cannot add these directly through the platform. To request a specific public group, Instagram account or hashtag, or Google Reviews site for monitoring, submit a support ticket or reach out to your CSM. The Zencity team will assess and add it if possible.
How do I connect our city's social media accounts to Organic?
Use the Publishing settings tab to connect Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, Threads, and Twitter/X accounts. This enables both publishing and listening features. Connecting accounts helps Organic collect more complete data and improves analytics accuracy.
Is it possible to integrate 311 data into Organic?
Yes. Zencity supports integration of 311 data through flat file uploads or APIs. Reach out to your CSM to discuss integration options and best practices.
How frequently is social media data updated in Organic?
Data updates follow a regular schedule:
- Instagram and Facebook owned-accounts, including posts, comments, and mentions, update in real time. Public pages and tracked Instagram hashtags update every 3 hours.
- Twitter/X posts update in real time, with comments updated every 90 minutes.
- Nextdoor local posts are updated every 60 minutes, with comments and agency posts updated every 3 hours.
- Bluesky and Threads are updated every 3 hours.
Further Reading:
👉 Managing data sources in the Organic Dashboard
👉 Connecting your Owned Accounts
👉 Organic Social Media Sources - Data Type & Schedule
Dashboard
What is the purpose of the Organic dashboard?
The dashboard helps you monitor high-level trends, sentiment changes, top sources, and volume spikes. It provides a snapshot of what your community is discussing and where the conversations are happening.
How do I filter data in the dashboard?
The quickest filter option you have at the top of your dashboard is by time range and topic. You can also filter by source, sentiment, channel (official or unofficial sources), geography, and language by expanding the filter options.
How do I search for a specific keyword in the Organic dashboard?
You can use the search keyword function in the dashboard to filter content by specific terms. Simply enter your keyword or phrase to see only posts, mentions, and articles that include it. For multi-word phrases, use quotes around the phrase (e.g., "road safety") to get exact matches. This helps you quickly find relevant conversations around particular topics.
How does Organic determine sentiment?
Zencity uses a proprietary AI model trained on local government discourse. It evaluates text tone, language, and context to label posts as positive, neutral, or negative.
Can I provide feedback on sentiment accuracy?
Yes. If a post is misclassified, you can flag it for review. This improves Zencity's model over time and ensures more accurate reporting in the future.
Can I export data from the dashboard?
Yes. Most visualizations include an export button to download charts or tables. You can also export entire dashboards into reports for internal or external sharing.
What is the relevance score?
The relevance score helps prioritize the most pertinent data by assessing how relevant an item might be for local governments, considering factors like organization type and data type.
Further Reading:
.👉 Starting your day with Zencity Organic
👉 Adding Organic Data to a Report
Topics (formerly called Projects)
What are Topics in Organic?
Topics—formerly called Projects—are focused views of the dashboard that help you track specific issues, initiatives, or departments over time. Each Topic filters the data in your Organic dashboard to show only the conversations that are relevant to your selected subject, making it easier to analyze sentiment, volume, sources, and key narratives.
How do I create a new Topic?
Click Take Action at the top of your Organic dashboard, then select Create a Topic. You can:
- Use a Template for common issues
- Build from Scratch with your own keywords and filters
- Try a Smart Topic, which uses AI to generate results from a title and description
- Or Request Help from the Zencity team
Your new Topic will automatically be added to your Follow list and appear in the Topic dropdown at the top of your dashboard.
What are some common ideas for setting up Topics?
You can start by exploring Preset Topics, which are already configured by Zencity to cover common urban issues like Public Safety, Transportation, Education, and more. These are automatically applied to your data and available in the Topic dropdown for quick access.
If you want to dive deeper into a local initiative, campaign, or emerging issue, you can create a Custom Topic tailored to your needs. Common use cases include tracking housing or budgeting conversations, monitoring public response to policy changes, or following feedback on community projects and events.
What’s the best practice for setting up a Topic?
For a quick start, try selecting a Preset Topic from the Topic filter at the top of your dashboard. If you need something more specific, create a Custom Topic using keywords, filters, or even Zencity’s Smart Topic option.
When building a Custom Topic, begin with broad terms and use the preview step to review which posts are included. Then refine your setup by excluding irrelevant terms or applying filters for location, sentiment, or source. Be sure to include common nicknames, hashtags, or abbreviations used in your community. The goal is to create a focused Topic that brings in the most relevant and actionable data.
How can I optimize keyword setup when creating a Topic in Organic?
If you’re building a Custom Topic from scratch, use quotes to capture exact phrases (like "public safety") and avoid overly broad terms that bring in too much noise. Use AND/OR logic to refine results, and include hashtags to surface social media content. Regularly reviewing and adjusting your setup will help keep the Topic accurate and actionable.
What data sources are included in a Topic in Organic?
Topics pull in relevant posts and articles from all of your connected data sources. This includes public social media (like Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram business accounts, and Nextdoor), local news, and any integrated 311 feeds. The results are based on your Topic’s keywords, filters, or AI classification model.
Can I make a Topic private or restrict access?
Yes. Any Custom Topic that you create can be made private and shared only with selected users. This is often useful when tracking sensitive subjects or internal initiatives before sharing insights with a wider audience.
Further Reading:
👉 How to create your own topic
👉 Topic Keywords Do's and Don'ts
News Feed
What is the News Feed in Organic?
The News Feed in Zencity Organic is a real-time stream of online articles and media coverage related to your organization. It includes content from local and national news sites, along with broadcast media clips and transcripts, helping you stay informed about how your city or agency is being discussed in the media.
What sources are included in the News Feed?
The News Feed pulls from a variety of publicly available online publications and broadcast media sources. It includes articles and clips that mention your city or related terms configured in your account. These sources are continuously updated to provide a current and comprehensive view of media coverage.
What do reach and publicity value mean?
Estimated reach refers to the number of people who are likely to see a story, based on how many monthly visitors the publication typically receives. Publicity value estimates how much the coverage would cost if it were paid advertising—giving you a sense of its impact.
Can I customize the News Feed?
Yes, your team can customize which articles appear by defining keywords to include or exclude, and by specifying relevant local news sites. This ensures that your News Feed focuses on the most relevant and useful coverage for your community. This can be done by the Zencity team or the client admin in the “Configuration” tab.
You can also customize the topics you jump to most often or want to dig deeper into through the "Saved Search" tab.
What if an article isn’t relevant?
If something shows up that doesn’t apply to your agency or community, you can hide it. Just click the three-dot menu on the item and select “Hide this item.” This helps clean up your feed and improves the experience for everyone reviewing the data.
Can I create reports from the News Feed?
Yes! You can turn selected News Feed items into a professional-looking report by choosing “Create Report” and selecting a one-time, template, or email report. This is a great way to highlight key coverage for internal teams or stakeholders.
Further Reading:
Publishing
What is Publishing in Organic?
Publishing is the tool within Organic that allows you to draft, schedule, and publish content directly to your connected social media accounts. It also includes features for team collaboration, content review, and scheduling across multiple platforms.
What’s the point of setting up profiles in Publishing?
Profiles help you group and manage your social media accounts—like one profile for Parks & Rec, and another for your main city channels.
Each profile can include one account per platform (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Nextdoor, LinkedIn, Threads), and lets you:
- Post and reply through Zencity
- Import data like impressions and followers
- Control who can access each account
Who can post on our social media accounts in Publishing?
Only users your team assigns as Admins or Composers can create or publish posts. By default, everyone is a Viewer—they can see posts but not create or edit them.
Here’s what each role can do (customized for each profile):
- Admin: Full access—publish, approve posts, manage users and inbox.
- Composer: Create and schedule posts; requires Admin approval to publish.
-
Viewer: View-only access to posts and analytics.
Admins can update roles in the user management settings.
How do I schedule a post in Publishing?
In the Publishing tab, select "New Post," choose your connected accounts, add your content, and select a date/time to schedule. You can preview how posts will appear on each platform before finalizing.
What’s in the Publishing Calendar?
You’ll see scheduled posts, drafts, and already-published content (even from native platforms). Use it to view, clone, edit, or delete scheduled posts.
What is the Publishing Library and how we get access to it?
It’s a searchable collection of real posts from other Zencity clients. Use filters or keywords to find examples by topic, location, or agency size.
Access is granted by default unless your organization chooses to opt out. If you remove your posts from the library, you'll also lose access to it. Admins can configure this in the Data Sources settings.
What does the Inbox in Publishing do—and will deleted comments still show up?
The Publishing Inbox lets you view and respond to real-time comments and messages from your connected social media accounts. Only Admins for a profile can use this feature for each specific account.
Even if someone deletes a comment on a post, it will usually still appear in the Inbox if it was imported before deletion. You can’t currently export Inbox comments on the backend, but they remain visible within the Inbox tab as long as permissions are valid and the connection is active.
Why is my post failing to publish? Common reasons:
- Your account is disconnected—reconnect it.
- The post is too similar to a recent one.
- Your permissions changed on the native platform.
Check the failure email for details and next steps.
Further Reading:
👉 Roles & Approval Flows for Publishing
👉 Including data from your owned accounts: Nextdoor, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram
👉 Troubleshooting Publishing & Analytics
Subscriptions & Notifications
How do I manage alerts and subscriptions in Organic? Head to Settings and open the Subscriptions tab. From there, you can turn notifications on or off for different topics and products by selecting email or in-app delivery. You can also manage your preferences directly from the Notifications Center.
What kinds of alerts can I subscribe to?You can receive alerts for volume spikes, top-performing posts, trending topics, or when a new Insight is published by Zencity analysts. You can also set up custom keyword alerts to get notified when specific terms appear in public discourse.
What types of email digests are available?Zencity offers both preset and custom digests. Preset options include weekly summaries and news roundups. Custom digests can be built for specific keywords or topics you want to track regularly.
How are alerts and digests delivered?Most alerts and digests are available via email and in-app push notifications. You can control delivery preferences in your Subscriptions settings and choose how often you want to receive updates—daily, weekly, or on a custom schedule.
Further Reading:
👉 Notifications & Subscriptions
Reporting & Analysis
How do I create and share a report in Organic? Use the Reports tab to create a custom report. You can start from a template, from the dashboard, or build from scratch. Reports include charts, top posts, volume and sentiment summaries, and commentary. They can be exported as PDFs or shared via link with other team members or stakeholders.
What are Analyst Insights, and how are they different from self-service reports?
Analyst Insights are short, expert-written briefs that highlight key findings in your community’s data. They’re created by the Zencity team to help you quickly understand what the data is saying—especially when you're dealing with a high-priority or time-sensitive issue. In contrast, self-service reports in Organic are built by you to track specific topics over time, monitor trends, and share updates. Use reports for ongoing analysis, and request an Insight when you need a deeper dive or additional support on a timely topic.
Further Reading:
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.