Social media are becoming increasingly important and
multidimensional in the event industry to outreach attendees and improve data
collection. The well-known social media platform, Facebook, which aims to
connect people together has now launched its professional offering: Facebook at
Work. Is this new offering working? LinkedIn, the leading specialized platform
that connects professionals together is competing with Facebook at work: which
one is the best for professional use?
Facebook at Work: The product
Corporations are aware that they need
to be on Facebook, but as with any other social media, they should get out the
most of it by utilizing it efficiently. The organization Cos powered an instruction book to
help those who want to use Facebook at Work. It explains how it can be used and
how it should be used, it also indicates the features included in Facebook at Work
such as “online chatting with colleagues and the ability to connect with
professional contacts”. Facebook at Work aims to be part of the daily life of
not only corporations but also any of their employees, similarly to what they are already doing with
Facebook for individual profiles (creating events, keeping in touch with
friends, sharing information). However, “workflow
management and advanced e-commerce integration” are not included in the
software package.
Comparing Facebook at Work and LinkedIn
Preconceived
ideas on Facebook at Work and LinkedIn are starting to emerge as Facebook
develops its new platform. It is the eternal question as to which platform is
going to come out first of this rivalry. Therefore, benefits and constrains
need to be explained without these preconceived ideas. Brighton School of
Business & Management recently created an infographic showing the benefits
and constrains of both social media, which uncovers their similarities and
differences. It gives leads to the one it is preferable to use.
Quantity of
users doesn’t necessary mean quality users and network in terms of professional
networking. This being said, even though Facebook has more users (1.35 billion
users) than LinkedIn (332 million users), this does not necessary mean that
Facebook at Work will work better than LinkedIn as Facebook targets any type of
workers and people, all professions are represented whereas LinkedIn primarily
targets professionals. However, it can also be a disadvantage for LinkedIn as they
may not take into account that nowadays professions and people are interdependent
which can narrow contacts network. Therefore, Facebook can answer to the
growing demand to know people in very different sectors. However, anyone who
knows how to use LinkedIn properly can reach the same results as with Facebook
at Work.
Business pages
are very important for a professional network, Facebook has 25 million business
pages while LinkedIn has only 4 million and this may be one of the main
advantage of Facebook: the large network they operate. However, the same
questioning remains: quality or quantity? Or both?
Another issue Facebook at Work will face is to have
people trust their platform enough to put online sensitive information.
Therefore, for now, before putting any sensitive information on Facebook at Work,
an in-depth analysis of what could be the opportunities and threats – cost of
what could happen if sensitive information was used on the platform – should be
undertaken. LinkedIn is being a more secure platform for the moment.
However, unlike LinkedIn, which would be more
favourable to big companies/corporations, Facebook could help small companies to
gain visibility. This can be concluded, as there is no “workflow management and
advanced e-commerce integration” which is usually included in the basic packages.
Despite its
disadvantages, Facebook should be able to take over on LinkedIn, just like the
iPhone took over Blackberry with only one mobile phone. This may happen
especially knowing that people mainly go to LinkedIn for job searching and
recruitment - which remains its main disadvantage -, whereas people surf on
Facebook multiple times per day, every day.
Finally, Facebook and LinkedIn are not so different, thereby;
no strict answers can be given. Even though, LinkedIn’s core purpose is to connect
professionals, we should not underestimate Facebook: generation Y is more
confortable with Facebook than LinkedIn, for them it is an evidence. However,
Facebook’s aim is to ally the advantages of a publishing platform and its soul purpose
as to connecting people (social platform). As Facebook has proved to power a
great network of connecting people, and that users are numerous; if they base
and leverage Facebook at Work with their advantages they should succeed as a
professional platform. It is now your job to find out which professional social
media is the most suitable for your needs and your way of networking.
One last question
remains: due to its features, will Facebook at Work revolutionize the event
industry by threatening small face-to-face meetings? Only the future will tell
us...
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