More productivity and collaboration than meme passing and candy crushing, Facebook for Work will finally arrive in early 2016.
It contains all of the familiar elements found on Facebook proper -- from profiles and group pages to timelines and follow features. But Facebook at Work was not built to support games, although some people will surely find workarounds to play, especially when colleagues aren't around.
"Facebook at Work lets you create a work account that is separate from your personal Facebook account," explains Facebook. "With a Facebook at Work account, you can use Facebook tools to interact with coworkers. Things you share using your work account will only be visible to other people at your company."
A few extra features wil be added too, such as security tools that are still in the works. It'll also offer analytics and customer support while other premium services will cost a few dollars per employee each month.
When Facebook at Work launches in full, it won't be a direct competitor to LinkedIn. Still, its essentially Facebook moving into LinkedIn's neighborhood.
LinkedIn focuses on collaboration between individuals across organizations and industries, while Facebook at Work targets team building within an organization. It is more of a direct competitor to the likes of Slack and Microsoft's Yammer, which are softwares meant to facilitate workplace exchanges.
Companies are required to register first before their employees are allowed to sign up with them. More information is available to those who will send an inquiry via this form.
For about a year, companies have already been test driving Facebook at Work. Club Med is one of the roughly 300 organizations that have given it a go.
"Facebook at Work is a simple way for employees to work together and share ideas, and we are proud to be working with Club Med to truly connect all their employees across the globe, regardless of time zones, languages and devices," said Julien Codorniou, director of global platform partnerships at Facebook.
