From the pocbooks.com archives of January 2015. Facebook at Work is this Service for YOU?
Facebook is providing companies their own customized version of its social media tool. This article will not be presented as a pros and con commentary, but it will inform you in the second half of the article why this may viewed as an oxymoron [Terms or statements that seem contradictory] company policy by managers and CIOs. That is, if someone brings up using the Facebook at Work service.
How does it work?If you already have a Facebook account, then you know how to share information with family, friends, and use the messaging system? You will pretty much notice the same functionality with the exception of Facebook at Work’s purpose for businesses sole employees (co-workers) access and purported no ads and no tracking, i.e. privacy.
Did you say, “No advertisements showing up?”“This is being reported, Facebook at Work is ads free”
Are you sure the Facebook at Work service will not track and store the company’s internal communications for other reasons outside of my knowledge?“Well, again, this is being reported by Business Insider Australia that, yes, this is the case.…Facebook at Work will not serve ads or track your data. It will remain a private, closed ecosystem only accessible to those inside a company.
As of the time of this writing, I was unable to find the official (SLA) Service level Agreement policy for the new Facebook at Work product. Granted, I could have missed it, or because the product is still in the testing phase. This page will be updated as information becomes available.
Tools for this Product
Facebook at Work App in ITunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook-at-work/id944921229?mt=8
There are selected companies trying out this new product across multiple platforms, including smartphones, as in android and others.
Is Facebook at Work an Oxymoron?
This is a question not everyone would have to ask? This question comes up for companies that are presently blocking Facebook and have policies prohibiting its personal usage on business property or during operation hours.In Round-Robin type settings, when people just brainstorm and throw out ideas, people (including managers) sometimes make suggestion that go against present company policy.They may feel it is in the interests of progress for the company or business. However, an alert signal will go off in the minds of people who know the company policy and the viable security reasons behind it; i.e. CIO’s. They may rebuttal “We are presently blocking Facebook on the Firewall level, how can we make this work?”
Additional questions may be asked:
• Will some forget at times to sign in/out of their personal and work profile?
• What makes this messaging system worth the change from our present system?
• Will this make us more efficient with productivity and security?
Again, it has to be emphasized, that such questions may only be applicable for ones who have strict policies against the use of Facebook in company environments, yet it comes up in a brainstorming session to change such a policy.
As always, the choice is left up to the decision makers for the company. This article is provided what is the latest news in the Information Technology culture, in which Facebook is playing an enterprising role.