A Few Thoughts on Workplace, by Facebook

Completely uninformed opinions by someone who has not used it…

I will admit upfront that I haven’t used Facebook at Work, er…Workplace yet. Not many have, but I do have some initial thoughts and impressions about what it means for the consumer social network leader to enter the enterprise social network space.

First off, if “disruption” is an instance when a small company with limited resources comes out of nowhere challenging larger incumbents with a radical new business model or approach, then is Facebook entering the ESN market reverse disruption? An established leader with virtually limitless resources decides to expand its existing business model into a new area that already has very well established, and arguably successful, incumbents with a business model that isn’t wholly different than anyone else’s. Maybe that is just business as usual, but I think Facebook’s entrance into the enterprise marketplace is going to have some downstream impacts.

Here are my thoughts on where Facebook is going to excel and where they are going to be challenged in the coming months and years.

The Good

People are familiar with Facebook. They know what it is, and the majority know how to use it to varying degrees. This means time and costs related to explaining what it is, what it is for, and training users how to use it are drastically reduced.

Facebook is great at mobile. Any modern ESN has to be strong in delivering a fantastic small screen experience. Facebook is very likely the new market leader in mobile experience for an ESN based solely on what they have already accomplished with their consumer products.

Facebook has robust built-in algorithms. This is an area that I haven’t seen other ESN’s excel at to date. Most just serve up data and information in chronological order in a continuous stream. Facebook has mastered manipulating data to show users what “it thinks they are interested in.” (We can debate whether or not that is a good thing some other time.)

The Bad

People are familiar with Facebook. Surely you knew I was going to use this one again when you saw it above… The fact is many business leaders associate being on Facebook with wasting time. And to some degree, they are right! All the bad habits people have learned over the years of using Facebook as a way to humble-brag, stalk people, and generally make their lives seem better than they truly are…are coming to an enterprise near you. All that money saved on not having to train your users will need to be spent on retraining your users.

Facebook isn’t a bastion of trust. A good portion of people do not trust “Facebook,” whether that means the company itself or the idea of sharing socially. This isn’t going to be easy to overcome in the workplace where many employees already distrust the establishment.

Facebook is entering an established market with a limited feature set. Okay, this may or may not hold water. I already admitted I haven’t used it. But, I have seen what it boasts…and it isn’t boasting anything revolutionary. It does updates, groups, events, some limited file sharing, and is probably years ahead of others in handling photos and videos. It does video chat. Where is the killer feature? What sets it apart? Mobile and algorithms?

Parting Question

Do Millennials and the younger Gen Z use Facebook? This is an honest question that I can’t answer. Lot’s of studies and opinions on both sides. If the answer is yes, then that is a huge tip in the favor of Facebook adoption for collaborating and socializing at work. If the answer is no, it represents a tough hill (mountain) to climb.

Wait and See

I think it is safe to say that none of us can predict whether or not Facebook is going to be as successful in the enterprise as they are in consumer social; however, I believe that the competition they are going to bring will ultimately raise the bar in several key areas for ESN tools and thereby be a positive impact on collaboration and productivity tools for years to come.

I do think they totally missed it on the name, though — should have gone with Workbook.