Facebook (Sort Of) Launches Facebook at Work

At long last, Facebook will offer a few users a sneak peek of its workplace tool Facebook at Work.

The company put Facebook at Work into the App Store Wednesday morning, but there’s a good chance you won’t be able to download it (don’t worry, we couldn’t either). Turns out that Facebook is still testing the product, and the app is only available to a small group of pilot partners, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

The long-rumored Facebook at Work looks and operates a lot like regular Facebook — there’s a News Feed, messaging and groups — but your network is limited to your colleagues instead of your friends and family.

This is intended to keep your work interactions separate from your personal ones. In theory, you could use the existing Facebook product to build a group for communicating with your colleagues. But posts from that group could appear in your News Feed alongside your personal posts, and connecting with colleagues would likely mean sharing other parts of your personal life — like photos — along the way.

Facebook at Work separates those two worlds.

One tool the service doesn’t have — at least not now — is a document-sharing feature, a la Google Docs.

On mobile, Facebook at Work users will need to download the separate Work app (although a spokesperson says you can link your Work and personal accounts so that only one login is required). On desktop, users can toggle between their personal and work accounts in the browser.

One lingering question about Facebook at Work is how the company plans to make money. Pilot companies are using the service for free, and a spokesperson says there are no ads within the Facebook at Work News Feed.

It’s possible (and, in my opinion, probable) that Facebook will create some sort of paid subscription model when the product is rolled out more broadly, although the company has never offered anything like this in the past.

Facebook at Work will likely ruffle the feathers of existing workplace software offerings like Slack or Yammer that provide tools for everyday communication and group collaboration.

LinkedIn could also face some competition, although the overlap is less obvious. LinkedIn isn’t focused on group collaboration or chatting, and should remain the main place for most people’s professional profiles; Facebook at Work limits user relationships to co-workers, so at least for now, the service wouldn’t be helpful in finding a new job.

LinkedIn is, however, preparing tools to make it easier to connect with co-workers set to release later this quarter.

There is no timetable for Facebook at Work’s launch, a spokesperson said. For now, you can simply admire the app from the App Store.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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