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Bosses may soon be demanding that employees get on Facebook and do some work. The social media giant is getting ready to roll out a workplace version of its site called "Facebook at Work," insiders tell the Financial Times.

The site—which will compete head-to-head with Google's and Microsoft's workplace products, as well as LinkedIn—will look and function much like Facebook's existing site, the sources say, but will include tools for people to work on things like shared documents and will allow users to keep their personal Facebook profiles completely separate from their professional ones.

The project, inspired by Facebook employees' own use of the site for work purposes, is now in an early pilot program and doesn't currently host ads, according to Mashable.

But will it catch on as the place to have workplace chats? The office version of Facebook could be a hit because it will have the "fastest learning curve ever in the history of enterprise software," writes Erika Morphy at Forbes, but with corporations fearing leaks of sensitive information, the company's "fast-and-loose approach with consumers' privacy may come back to haunt it." (Facebook is also rumored to be planning a move into health care.)

Facebook Turns Away From NewFronts Over Lack of Original Content Social network was removed from schedule By Michelle Castillo

UPDATE: Facebook has been removed from the 2015 NewFronts schedule because the company didn't plan to present original content.

The tentative 2015 NewFronts lineup obtained by Adweek on Wednesday afternoon showed Facebook was slated to present between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., April 30. Facebook said that it decided before the slate was officially released on Thursday morning that it was not going to participate.
"We had initial talks with the IAB about participating in the NewFronts, and as we got closer to the schedule being confirmed, we had more in-depth conversations about the goals of the NewFronts and IAB's vision for the event," a Facebook rep said via email. "Since Facebook does not produce original content, we decided it doesn't make sense for us to participate at this time."


Anna Bager, svp of mobile and video at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, said the decision was mutual. "We had been talking to Facebook about the potential of joining the roster as well, but after some back and forth, we both determined that this wasn't the right moment for them to take part," she said.
After speaking with multiple sources close to the situation, Adweek reported on Monday that Facebook would have a slot at the NewFronts. Sources said that Facebook and the IAB had been in discussions for months about participating but had not 100 percent committed when the IAB began widely releasing the schedule on Thursday. However, an insider with knowledge about the event countered Facebook's claims, saying the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company was asked by the IAB not to participate because it had no proprietary digital programming to show at its presentation.


In the official press release for the 2015 NewFronts schedule, IAB reiterated its dedication to original programing. "Last year's NewFronts provided a defining moment for original digital video programming, as marketers, media buyers and the press were wowed by knockout presentations that not only turned heads, but moved dollars," said Bager. "Consumers are captivated by original digital video, whether watching it on a computer, tablet, smartphone or Internet-connected TV, and with this annual marketplace fueling buy-side interest and demand, the sky could be the limit for this new form of programming."
The NewFronts began in 2012 as a response to television's annual Upfronts, an opportunity for advertisers to preview upcoming programming. Facebook was part of the inaugural 2014 IAB Digital Upfronts U.K. in October, but did not present original content at that time. What Facebook intended to show in 2015—and why it was allowed to present in the U.K. but not in the U.S.—is unclear.

Introducing the Facebook Groups App

People use Facebook Groups every day to stay in touch with family, collaborate on projects, plan trips and offer support to friends.

Today, we’re introducing a new Facebook Groups app that helps people share faster and more easily with all the groups in their life. We built this app with the people who use Groups the most in mind, like:

• Students from Donda’s House, an arts nonprofit in Chicago, who use groups to stay in touch during and after a 12-week music program
• A class of dental students in Brazil who use a group to post notes and reminders about upcoming tests and due dates
• Nine best friends spread out across Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and England who use a group to keep connected

Here’s how it works:

When you open the app, you’ll see all your Facebook Groups in one place. Groups you use most frequently are at the top, and you can quickly move between each group.

Easily start a new group by tapping Create.

You can also track notifications and easily control which notifications you want to see.

In the new Discover tab, you’ll see groups suggested to you based on Pages you’ve liked, groups your friends are in and where you live.

You can still use Facebook Groups in the main Facebook app and on desktop, and over time we’ll continue to make those experiences faster and better, too.

Facebook Groups, part of Facebook Creative Labs, is available in all countries on Android and iOS today.

This Is the 1 Thing Facebook Can’t Figure Out

Can Facebook make a popular standalone app?

Facebook has a good track record of pulling off big things. One-sixth of the world’s populationis on the social media platform, which, by the way, is also developing laser-based Internet to connect the rest of the humanity while its CEO finds time to pick up Mandarin Chinese.

Rooms and Slingshot are standouts because they’re the company’s first attempts at designing a completely new app outside its core platform. And while Slingshot feels very much like a Snapchat clone, Rooms, with its focus on old-school online chatting’s anonymity, is curiously distant from Facebook’s real-life focus. That makes it special among other apps from Facebook Creative Labs, a Facebook initiative that seeks to create new platforms to “support the diverse ways people want to connect and share.”But if there’s one project that’s stumped the company, it’s the very thing that made Facebook what it is today: Creating the Next Big Thing, particularly in the form of a new mobile app. Facebook has recently released several apps separate from its primary offering, hoping one will be a hit. Its most recent attempt, Groups, takes the social media platform’s group messaging feature and spins it off into a separate mobile app. Before Groups arrived on Tuesday, there was Rooms, an anonymous chatroom app, Slingshot, a Snapchat-style disappearing messages app, Paper, a Facebook app redesigned for mobile devices and a much-mocked “Facebook for celebrities.”

While the Facebook Creative Labs’ mission statement doesn’t say anything about building mainstream ways to connect, making popular apps seems an implied goal of a company that wants to be as much of a daily presence as running water. However, most of Facebook’s standalone apps have seen their rankings nosedive since their debuts, according to data from business intelligence firm App Annie. (Groups is still too new to track.)

THIS IS WHAT YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE LOOKED LIKE OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS

Furious Facebook bus drivers board Teamsters union - You can't poke me, I'm part of the union

Facebook's shuttle bus drivers have voted to join a union – as anger grows over the pay disparity between moneybags engineers and cash-strapped service workers.

The unhappy drivers work for Loop Transportation, which has a contract to ferry Mark Zuckerberg's staff to and from the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, California.

After complaining of poor pay and lousy working conditions, the drivers voted to join one of the biggest private sector unions in the US.

To some Brits, the Teamsters name might sound more like a burger chain than a union. But Stateside, Teamsters represent some 1.4 million people.

Rome Aloise is international vice president and secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 853, a regional wing of the union.

He said: "I hope going forward this will set a trend with other drivers in Silicon Valley and the tech industry so we can set a pattern to make the companies pay these drivers decent wages and benefits so they can live a decent life."

Service workers in Silicon Valley are becoming fed up of watching their customers get richer and richer, whilst their own wages are stuck at rock bottom.

The drivers claimed to earn between $18 and $20 a hour, whilst executive Facebookers luxuriate in six-figure salaries.

Loop Transportation CEO Jeff Leonoudakis claimed the wages actually varied from $17 to $25.

The bus chief said: "Loop Transportation respects the election results and the decision of our drivers who service Facebook. Even though we don't feel that our drivers' interests are best served by union representation, our drivers have spoken and we will now begin the negotiation process."

In a blog post, Loop Transportation employees described starting work at the crack of dawn, driving Facebookers to work before clocking off for a six-hour unpaid break.

Many workers live too far away to get home during this down period, so spend the day snoozing in their car or hanging around in a miserable trailer with up to 40 other drivers.

After ferrying Facebook workers back to their homes, drivers manage to make it home at about 9pm, just as their children are nodding off.

“When I leave the house at 5:30 each morning for my morning route, my kids are asleep,” said 52-year-old Jimmy Maerina. “And by the time I make it home around 9, they are getting ready to turn in for the night. I miss family dinners, helping with homework – all the little things that a family is supposed to do together.

“We need a union here at Loop in San Carlos – an advocate that will stand up for our rights. We feel that is the only way Loop will listen to us and take steps to address our concerns.”

The issue was first raised in a letter (PDF) from Teamsters addressed directly to Mark Zuckerberg himself.

It said that although Facebook workers earn "extraordinary" wages, the poorly paid drivers and other service workers can barely afford to send their kids to school, let alone buy a decent house anywhere near work.

"This reminiscent of a time when noblemen were driven around in their coaches by their employees," the union wrote. "Frankly, little has changed; except the noblemen are your employees and the servants are the bus drivers who carry them back and forth each day."