WORKER OR SHIRKER?
SOCIAL NETWORK FACEBOOK, ONCE A DISTRACTION FOR EMPLOYEES AND THE BANE OF THE BOSS’S LIFE, IS MAKING A BID FOR CORPORATE RESPECTABILITY
WAS IT A PLOY TO PULL SLUMBERING EM- PLOYEES out of a post-Christmas haze and boost morale? Or a serious move into the enterprise social network market, to induce greater collabora- tion? Just exactly why did Facebook decide to launch ‘Facebook at Work’ (FB@Work) in the middle of January? The tool, available as an app for iOS
and Android, is being piloted with a few select organisations. A spokesperson told Buying Business Travel nothing specific could be commented upon during the pilot scheme, but the social network giant says it will be separate from users’ personal Facebook accounts, but easily
18 BBT MARCH/APRIL 2015
switchable, and that it is “for co-workers to communicate and collaborate in a professional environment on Facebook”. “Things you share using your work account will only be visible to other people at your company,” it adds. Cue jokes about accidentally posting
pictures from last night’s drunken antics to the CEO, but it is a bold move into the enterprise social network market, and follows the likes of Yammer (which Microsoft purchased for US$1.2 billion in 2012), Slack, Jive, Convo and Socialcast. As with any technology, user experi-
ence is key, and Facebook certainly has familiarity on its side. Should the business
travel community take note? For Rob Golledge at Amadeus, having the same interface that people use when catching up with friends and family removes an important barrier to adoption: “These days, people are governed more by results than whether an application was origi- nally designed for business or leisure.” Paul Richer, senior partner at Genesys, adds that although FB@Work will likely be used for work gossip and socialising, rather than anything directly relating to work matters, it could open up a new channel to travel management com- panies (TMCs). “From a business travel perspective, it might well be interesting
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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