FACEBOOK AT WORK Facing up to challenges

mployers could soon enhance their communication with employees using Facebook, which is testing a new application called Facebook at Work. The social media site says it will help users collaborate on workrelated matters.

Co-workers can stay in touch with each other in the same way they stay in touch with friends and family via Facebook.

Facebook at Work functions separately from a user’s Facebook profile and the information shared among employees is accessible only to people in the company, explains Facebook.

Some companies have blocked the use of social media networks like Facebook at workplaces. This is partly because of bandwidth considerations, but is also justified as a way to improve productivity. However, Facebook says it is technically feasible to use Facebook at Work and still block the personal use of Facebook.

“One of the challenges for companies in general is that there is so much information, so many audiences, [making it] hard to collaborate and disseminate information. This streamlines that collaboration, makes it more efficient,” the company said in a statement.

Facebook says it has been using the app for its own employees for a number of years and it has helped improve communication. It has also helped with “sharing information in a more scalable way, getting to work across departments and within departments more easilyT. h”abiso Mochiko