After spending a years in testing, Facebook is expected to launch its professional version of its social network called “Facebook at Work”.
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The French resort company will offer the service to all its 13,000 employees through summer 2016, Anne Browaeys-Level, Club Mediterranee’s chief marketing and digital officer, told Reuters.
However, you’ll still be able to make use of the popular chat service, click likes and view a scrolling news feed on the new site.
Facebook at Work users will have their own business profiles separate from their personal profiles. Additionally, rather than trying to facilitate communication between friends or people with similar interests, it is instead meant to promote collaboration within businesses.
Bespoke enterprise products will also be created just for Facebook at Work, however, such as security tools, he said, adding: “You can not play Candy Crush on Facebook at Work”.
Company admins can view their company’s Facebook at Work insights, which include employee signup, group and posting activity.
A basic package will be free, according to Vanessa Chan, but Facebook plans to charge for certain premium features, including analytics, customer support and integrations with third-party apps. While, on mobile, Facebook at Work will be available on Android and iOS, but you need to install it separately.
A survey by computer services provider HCL Technologies in 2011 found that half of workers had been banned from using Facebook and other social networks in their offices, due to employers’ fears that their business reputations could be at stake.
However, features such as photo and file sharing, likes and a newsfeed will be incorporated and it’s been officially stated that 95% of what we’ll find in Facebook for Work will be based on the current Facebook format with a handful of business centred extras developed specifically for it too.
When Facebook at Work launches in full, it won’t be a direct competitor to LinkedIn.
The service has been a year in testing, and is nearly ready for mass consumption.
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On one hand, LinkedIn is focused on connecting individuals across organizations and industries, but on the other, Facebook at Work will be targeting team building within a single organization.
