Facebook to take on LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft
You already use Facebook at work. Soon you'll be able to use Facebook at Work, a new spin on the social network that is intended for use at the office -- so you won't have to close your browser window when the boss walks by.
The site is intended to let users connect and chat with professional contacts, sift through an exclusively work-related newsfeed, and collaborate on documents, according to the Financial Times, which reported that the site is currently being tested by some companies.
Facebook at Work is a clear play at LinkedIn, the top networking site for professionals, and its document sharing and collaboration aspects also would put it in competition with Google Drive and chat, and Microsoft Office 365.
Facebook is typically not a work-friendly site. Profiles often contain information (and evidence) that you don't want a current or potential employer seeing. What's more, many offices block Facebook for fear that it diminishes productivity. (In fact, some research has shown that web surfing during the day may actually increase productivity.)
LinkedIn is, if you will, the Facebook of professional networking, with more than 332 million registered users worldwide. If Facebook wants to become the Facebook of professional networking, "they need a more professional sheen to get through that firewall," CNET editor Dan Ackerman told CBS News.
Facebook currently makes its money off advertising. In order to monetize the move, the company would have to create new revenue streams. LinkedIn reported revenue of $568 million in the third quarter of 2014, from job postings, premium subscriptions and marketing campaigns.
"If you can get people to buy professional accounts, that's really big. Obviously some sort of targeted advertising or promotions connected to this, that could be really big," said Ackerman. "And just keeping these people as customers, even if they can't use regular Facebook at work, could really be lucrative for them."
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Facebook to take on LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft