As you know, there are many social networks, and that means each person has several accounts on different ones. But then there are others that are less well-known, such as Workplace. What is it? What is this social network used for?
If you have never heard of it but would like to know what it is and how you can use it (if it is what you are looking for), here you will have all the information you need to know.
Workplace: What is it?
The first thing you should know about Workplace is that it is from Facebook. Yes, believe it or not, because it is not a network that has advertised much, the truth is that it belongs to Facebook, or as it is now known, Meta.
This service is completely independent of Facebook and has been operating for a few years. Initially, it wasn't called Workplace but Facebook at Work. It kept that name for about a year while tests were conducted to see how well it worked.
In reality, we could say it's a professional social network, similar to LinkedIn, but created by Mark Zuckerberg. Its purpose is to allow company employees to connect and always do so via their mobile phones.
However, we already told you that the main countries that use it are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, India and Norway. In Spain it has gone more unnoticed and hardly anyone knows it.
What is Workplace for?
Workplace's primary use is to facilitate communication between managers and colleagues , but it also allows for the creation of work groups. In this way, it becomes a valuable tool for everyday work tasks.
Since it's completely independent of Facebook, there's no need to link the two accounts , keeping your private and personal side separate from your work side. That doesn't mean there isn't a wall, chat, live streaming capabilities, groups, etc.
Beyond the labor issue, it will not be used for anything else. But it can be a meeting place for workers and bosses to get to know each other and to communicate.
Some of the companies that do use it, known in Spain, are Booking, Danone, Save the Children or Oxfam.
Advantages of using Workplace
After what we have seen of Workplace, it is possible that you have in mind some of the advantages that it offers you. We summarize the most important ones we have seen:
- Improve business productivity. Because you provide an internal communication tool that can help keep workers informed of all important issues. Of course, the internal ones (between bosses) too, but always in a more private way (using chats or groups).
- Separation with personal Facebook. This allows workers and bosses to have more privacy in their personal lives and not mix it with work.
- Possibility to create groups to communicate certain information not only to all people, but to some of them.
Workplace's biggest drawback
Despite all the benefits that Workplace has for both companies and employees, there is one negative that may be the reason why it has gone more unnoticed.
This social network is a paid service. Depending on the number of employees, you have to pay a fee for each one. The rates are structured as follows:
- Companies with up to 1000 employees, $3 for each employee.
- Businesses between 1001 and 10000, $2 per user.
- Those that exceed 10001 workers, one dollar per user.
This means that free apps can surpass Facebook's idea.
6 Workplace Highlights
Before you decide whether or not to use Workplace for your company , it's worth knowing six details that can help you understand it much better.
It has a very powerful search engine
To the point that you'll be able to search for names, phrases, groups, etc. It's like the Facebook search engine, but it's a bit better equipped to find work-related information, such as important phrases or posts.
Possibility to create events
Such as Christmas meals, or meetings with clients. In this way, it will be possible to invite the people who must attend the appointment in which they will be informed of the place and time in which they have to be, and thus avoid that there may be other events that overlap and make the company not work well.
News feed prioritization
One of the problems with Facebook's news feed is that it does what it wants. But in this case, that wouldn't be the case, since you would only need to prioritize which news items (from groups, colleagues, tasks, etc.) you want to appear first, and thus know what to focus on first.
an exclusive chat
Called Workchat, it will allow you to create user groups that will receive the messages you send, as well as share documents or even start video calls to have meetings with all the members of that group.
Creation of groups
These can be created just like on Facebook or through chats, as you saw a moment ago.
They will serve not only to start a conversation in which everyone is aware, but also to order information, documents, etc. and receive feedback from the team.
A Workplace different from Facebook
If you're already thinking it's going to be like Facebook with your coworkers, think again. It's true that it follows the same basic principles as Facebook , but there are some differences. For one thing, to access Workplace you'll have to use a link sent to your email.
That means that you don't have to have a Facebook account but you will do it through another application. There, just for that you will already have an email of yours finished in .facebook.com.
Furthermore, you won't have to send friend requests, mainly because that feature isn't available. You'll only be able to "follow" your colleagues. No "friendships" are possible. This doesn't mean you can't chat with them privately, as you can do that through the chat function.
Is it now clearer to you what Workplace is?