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Facebook at Work To Report For Duty Next Month (fortune.com) 83

Posted by msmash from the so-that-you-Facebook-at-Work dept.
The debut of the long-awaited business social network is nigh. Facebook at Work is about to report for duty. The social networking company's long-awaited foray into business applications will formally debut in London on October 10, according to tech site TechCrunch. From a report:The news site further noted this would be Facebook's first major product launch to take place outside the United States. Thus far, Facebook is seen as a fun-and-games site, not something corporate employees use to converse or track each other. But Facebook at Work, a business-minded operation, could help change that image. As has been reported, it will be a separate version of the network that can be accessed only from a company's internal IT systems, and in theory, subject to stricter corporate security and access rules. Personal accounts will be cordoned off.
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Facebook at Work To Report For Duty Next Month More

Facebook at Work To Report For Duty Next Month

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  • No. Not ever. (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I will never, ever, be a part of Facebook. They may have a "shadow profile" on me, but I will never, ever willingly become part of their machine. I dislike the notion of social media for myself. I have nothing, no Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, none of it. I spend time with actual people, in the flesh. Besides, I enjoy time with my children and wife in the flesh, not digitally. I cannot hit the rewind button with my life.

    In my house, the phones and computers are put on hold until the children are asleep, then

    • So says the Basement Dwelling AC. How's your mom?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by epyT-R ( 613989 )

        Oh look, ad hominem. How's clicking 'like' doing it for ya? Does it fill that empty void that should be filled with real-life friends?

    • How naive. You are already part of the network. You cannot put phones and computers "on hold". They are always pinging location back to their masters. And what difference does it make if you wait until the "children are asleep"? Do you think the "machine" stops when your children goes to sleep?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        You're a moron. The point of his rant is that USING DEVICES does not take precedence over human interaction in his house. That you want to argue the point illustrates what a sad, shallow digital life you must lead.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by asylumx ( 881307 )
      Slashdot IS social media....

      • Re:No. Not ever. (Score:4)

        by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Thursday September 29, 2016 @11:45AM (#52983865) Homepage Journal

        Slashdot IS social media....

        Slashdot is about as social as autism....

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Slashdot is about as effective in regards to being social, as autism.

      • More like anti-social media.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          More like anti-social media.

          Why the heck do you think we come here? Anti-social behaviour is not a defect if used in moderation. I can handle people for about 1 hour a day, then it is back to my cats and dogs.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by epyT-R ( 613989 )

        No it isn't. It's pseudonymous, doesn't encourage the upload of personal life data, isn't embedded in half the web, and while it does track basic relationships between users (friend/foe), that is not its primary purpose. Unlike facebook, lack of real-life data prevents it from triggering that highschool-like insecurity in people to keep them coming back.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by asylumx ( 881307 )

          Social media, noun, websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

          Users create and share content here. From the front page articles to the comments (which are the real reason any of us are here, let's face it, or else you wouldn't be reading this).

          Twitter is pseudonymous and yet everyone regards it as social media, so I'm not sure where you got your definition.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I spend time with actual people, in the flesh. Besides, I enjoy time with my children and wife in the flesh, not digitally. I cannot hit the rewind button with my life.

      This sounds great, if ALL the people you wish to interact with live in the same house as you. Some people do not have this luxury. I have family and friends all over the country, and I find that, while I prefer "face to face" interactions with them, those interactions happen far less frequently than I'd like. As a result, Facebook and othe

      • Re: No. Not ever. (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Gee, if only we had ways of keeping in touch with people at a distance that doesn't involve handing over personal data to a datamining advertising company. One wonders how humans ever did such things. Must be myths and legends.

    • When my daughter's friends come over, all mobile phones go into a basket in my kitchen.

      I bet you're constantly mentioning you don't own a television

  • No one will use this. Linkedin already has this niche and people are loathe to try new platforms. It will end up just like Google+

    That's leaving off the horrendous privacy and UI issues facebook has gone through year after year. I'll leave my professional and personal life separate, thank you Zuck.

    • Facebook at work is nothing like LinkedIn. Its more like Yammer and equally as useless.

    • Re:End up just like Google+ (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Malc ( 1751 ) on Thursday September 29, 2016 @11:32AM (#52983775)

      Why do senior managers keep thinking that we want social networks at the office? My previous company tried to foist Jive on us, and other than an initial token gesture by senior management, they didn't use it... and guess what? It's them who already needed to improve their communication with the rest of the company. I really don't give a shit about whatever banal thing somebody's doing today, right this moment. It's just noise. I will socialise in the pub after work, or even at lunch time, where I can speak my mind if I wish. Otherwise these overpriced toys don't help me get anything done.

      • One of our VPs uses Yammer, and so it is nice to poke him there since the intervening demigods all leap out of their chairs to address whatever is brought up whereas otherwise it would be lost in the noise. But, yes, if the senior management don't use it then it is just another time waster.

      • Why do senior managers keep thinking that we want social networks at the office? My previous company tried to foist Jive on us, and other than an initial token gesture by senior management, they didn't use it... and guess what? It's them who already needed to improve their communication with the rest of the company. I really don't give a shit about whatever banal thing somebody's doing today, right this moment. It's just noise. I will socialise in the pub after work, or even at lunch time, where I can speak my mind if I wish. Otherwise these overpriced toys don't help me get anything done.

        I guess they want it to gather information about companies and their employees' actions and connections with other companies for SALE SALE SALE to the highest spam and ad data bidders. Oops, I've said too much.

      • I've worked in varying degrees of depth within Knowledge Management, and what I've seen over the years is that decisions like this aren't based on any real-world data. Guys want to roll out giant systems with the assumption that "everyone is going to use it," without defining the problem they're trying to resolve, and without gathering requirements. Further, there is zero serious thought given to the maintenance nor curation of such a resource once it is implemented.

        So, either a) lots of people use it, and

      • Why do senior managers keep thinking that we want social networks at the office? My previous company tried to foist Jive on us, and other than an initial token gesture by senior management, they didn't use it... and guess what? It's them who already needed to improve their communication with the rest of the company. I really don't give a shit about whatever banal thing somebody's doing today, right this moment. It's just noise. I will socialise in the pub after work, or even at lunch time, where I can speak my mind if I wish. Otherwise these overpriced toys don't help me get anything done.

        Senior management love to have big sounding objectives like "I will continue to improve communications with my staff" on their performance reviews. It's an easy box to tick by posting a couple of blogs copied from press releases and a tweet about the Xmas party during the year.

  • Most of my co-workers already use Facebook at Work.

    From a branding aspect, F@WK is a horrible title -- and not just for the clever acronym I just made up.

    Upper Mgmt considers Facebook to be a time-waster for employees. They would have been better to market under a unique brand that isn't associated with that existing perception by not using Facebook in the name.

    The whole project is a bit ironic... As Zuck's philosophy has always been that a person should have one account, and friends/family/co-wor
  • Why are we being linked to a Forbes article when Forbes cites a Techcrunch article for the information?

    "... according to tech site TechCrunch. The news site further noted..."

    https://techcrunch.com/2016/09... [techcrunch.com]

    • Probably because the Forbes article is better written, has more information than that found in the original article, or is visually more appealing. Tracing back to source material would lead to worse (and probably fewer) articles. Besides, no one RTFAs.

  • Absolutely nothing bad can come of this.

    So "Personal Accounts" will be cordoned off. That don't mean much. Will the Facebook /databases/ be cordoned off? If not, it just means you won't be able to access personal accounts from at work, but Facebook will still link everything in the background. Won't it be so fun to have Facebook automagically add all your coworkers to prospective friends on your personal account. And what if you change companies? Do those accounts exist in a single "work facebook" da

  • If I don't use Facebook personally, why would I use Facebook for business?
    • Because companies will use the Messenger chat features instead of Hipchat, and create events in FB for meeting, etc.
      I understand it will be a nightmare for people who don't want to be part of this FB thing, and I understand!

    • If I don't use Facebook personally, why would I use Facebook for business?

      I smell the next lower-cost WebEx equivalent in the future... Maybe the new Delete-Your-Files-Here-Instantly(tm) service. Wait, I mean STORE your files here.. not delete.. hehe.. little slip there.

      Hey, I'd be all Zuckerberged out if I had meeting details between large companies whenever I wanted to feel the narcissism satiated, you know, as a responsible behind-the-scenes administrator.

      To quote the Monty Burns character from The Simpsons: "Yesss.. Exxxcellllleeent. They're all doing my bidding now."

      Jus

  • After the massive privacy bait-and-switch Facebook pulled with the WhatsApp acquisition, who on earth would trust them with private information? The terms and conditions of just about every consumer software, hardware, and SaaS offerings contain language along the lines of "we'll change this agreement pretty much any time we want with as much or as little notice (posted on the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard.') as we want."

  • Long Awaited? By who? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    It has been SOOOO long-awaited that msmash says it TWICE in the first three sentences. Sounds like msmash is a Facebook fanboi.

    "This long-awaited foray by the social network has been long-awaited."
    [CITATION NEEDED]

    For crying out loud, we're all waiting for Facebook to become the next MySpace and Friendster.

  • I wonder if Facebook actually uses this themselves. You gotta eat your own dog food.

    • I am sure they use the regular FB at work but have a who division which uses FB at Work which cannot communicate with normal FB while at work....

  • Also, no thank you.

    And I say this as a person who finds FB quite useful in real life.

    "You forgot to check in at the conference yesterday." "I see that you did not 'like' my presentation. Might I remind you that this is a condition of employment?" "I TOLD you not to respond to John's project update with department specific information."

    Having witnessed several commit comment wars, I can't see this going anywhere good...

  • Solution looking for a problem? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ErichTheRed ( 39327 ) on Thursday September 29, 2016 @11:45AM (#52983867)

    Slack, BitBucket and all that have the hipster startup market covered. LinkedIn is the contact management tool for regular businesses. Yammer is pretty much toast and Microsoft is folding its pieces into Skype and SharePoint. So, I'm not quite sure where Facebook expects to fit in this space.

    I really don't know why most non-startup, non-tech businesses would want a platform like this. I know the BCG, Gartner, etc. studies are telling companies "You're all a bunch of stuffy old suit-wearing curmudgeons, the MILLENNIALS are coming and they want social tools! They want positive affirmation and badges! They have phones and tablets, BYOD baby! They want to work at cafeteria tables in a bright white shared workspace! CHANGE or DIE, you LUDDITES!!!!!" But I'm just not seeing that. Outside of a very small minority, younger people I'm working with have the same needs as older people - a job and a quiet place to do it in. Having to feed another social media platform just doesn't seem like a task most people want to take on regardless of age.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tomhath ( 637240 )
      A company I worked for a few years ago set up Yammer. There were some posts the first few days as people tried it out, then it faded away. As already noted, this is a solution in search of a problem.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • So we have a company that has made it known that they scan and use anything and everything that their members submit.. and now they expect to attract businesses? I guess if you are a business that doesn't have anything confidential going on you might be interested, but it doesn't seem like a very good strategy to give all your critical information to Facebook.

    • So we have a company that has made it known that they scan and use anything and everything that their members submit.. and now they expect to attract businesses? I guess if you are a business that doesn't have anything confidential going on you might be interested, but it doesn't seem like a very good strategy to give all your critical information to Facebook.

      It will say in their 70-something agreements that the information is always confidential and never shared with anyone or any entity. C'mon, you know that, and you also know companies always follow the standards of their agreements.

      Sorry, I barfed a little there. ;)

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