Facebook for Business
March 10, 2010
This morning I found the article “The Facebook Imperative Cannot Be Stopped” through @TechCrunch on Twitter. In the article salesforce.com Cheif Marc Benioff discussed how the next evolution of software is to make every application like Facebook. His observation is that tools like IBM’s Lotus Notes and Microsoft’s SharePoint miss the mark when it comes to true collaboration. Tools like Notes and SharePoint allow you to collaborate on content by posting new versions or co-managing lists but have not allowed for true user collaboration and discussion. Sure they have discussion threads that can be topic focused but they aren’t seemless or as easy-to-use as Facebook.
Think about the conversations on Facebook. Your friend from out of town posts the question, “I need ideas for a 9 year old birthday party in the Cincy area”. Within minutes, the suggestion start rolling in:
Everyone that is your “friend” can comment on the question. Responses are real time. If the friend had sent an email, it would bounce through the servers and firewalls. Some would lose the mail message into their junk items, some would not respond, some would think to do it later (and then not do it). With Facebook, the question shows up in my “Most Recent” list. It’s there if I want to respond now or later. Responding is easy. All can see one another’s responses (unlike email where I may not be on a reply list). You are engaged in the conversation because it is easy and allows for debate.
If Facebook were smart they would take some of the same concepts in their free version and create a Business Edition. This edition would be installed within my firewall and rely on Active Directory for the users. New employees would be set up as they would be in email. The “friend” concept would be abolished as we are all colleagues that need to communicate with one another and all employees would be in my list. I no longer need a separate IM client, as that feature is already built in. Email is also built in…do I need corporate email? (FB mail does not allow for attachments, only links…). Additionally, my HR or event planners could post events and recieve RSVPs. The calendaring isn’t great in FB – perhaps that’s an enhancement??? To me, having a conversation with my colleagues just became considerably easier. Imagine the IT department:
Wow…wouldn’t that be great!! What features would you add to the business edition of Facebook?
- Jodie
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@TechCrunch This morning's Facebook link inspired my blog today. http://tcrn.ch/cEOHdf My response –> http://bit.ly/9J6jL8
RT @LUCRUMinc: New blog post: Facebook for Business http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/facebook-for-business.htm
What if #Facebook released a business edition? http://bit.ly/bqYwbP