Much like Google has had success in offering an enterprise-level version of its e-mail and Drive services, Facebook is looking for legitimacy in the office by offering companies a way to set up a sharing network for just employees that exists alongside any personal Facebook accounts they may have.
“Facebook at Work is a separate experience that gives employees the ability to connect and collaborate efficiently using Facebook tools,” reads a statement from the company, which says that users of the new app will see many features they’re already likely familiar with, like News Feed, Groups, messages, and events.
Except, rather than being pestered with requests for games that you don’t want to play or links to viral stories that were debunked three years earlier, you’ll presumably be getting invites to meetings and posts about important company-related information.
Just like the Google business services, Facebook will charge a premium to companies looking to use Facebook At Work. That’s different than the company’s current approach to generating revenue by selling heavily targeted ads on the free version of the site.
“We’ve been using Facebook for work for many years now internally, and we’ve gained a lot of insight into how people can collaborate more efficiently,” says Lars Rasmussen, a Facebook engineer who worked on the new app.
Unlike the Facebook we’ve all come to know and fear, the company says it will not use the Facebook At Work app to collect data on users.
Only a small number of companies currently have access to the app, but that will change as Facebook allows more businesses to sign on and download it from the iOS and Android app stores.
‘Facebook At Work’ Hits App Stores [WSJ Digits]
Facebook At Work finally lets employees get away with Facebook at work [Ars Technica]
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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