The expansive universe cultivated by Facebook demonstrates the changing trend in networking and social behavior exhibited by the internet populace. Left behind are the days when one would find pen pals in corners of the world; we now find friends through a web medium that not only gives a brief intro, but also provides some assurance in terms of common contacts.
If one is to review the history of Facebook, a common story with the release of the motion picture “The Social Network”, the interesting factor found common is the initial thinking that led to the planting of the roots for this giant. It was exclusivity; a club that only a few could get into, while everyone wanted to be in it. In fact, even Orkut employed a similar technique in its heyday, requiring an invitation from members to join.
However, opening up the club proved to be the best thing for Facebook, propelling it into the heights of the internet world, and of course, making a billionaire out of its founder.
Instead of emailing your friends and family and attaching pictures, you could simply share your life and even your daily routine with your world; all through one portal. As the popularity has climbed, more developers have taken to this one platform to share their wares, from games to markets. And this has meant that the time spent by an average user of the site has also increased dramatically, in some cases, alarmingly.
This is one of the reasons why many workplaces have restricted worker access to social networking sites from the office, with information security and confidentiality also playing vital roles.
The various researches done so far have shown diverging results on what would be the best solution for a more open and productive workplace. In fact, a recent Gartner report showed a decline in the use of email communication corresponding with an increase in social network mediums as primary contact platforms. The hypothesis by the report states that social platforms could become the solitary modes in the next 5 years for all forms of communication; email, notes, messages, photos, etc.
Taking into account the global trend, enterprises have to make decisions on how to utilize the social platform; incorporate or segregate. Some organizations have welcomed Facebook openly, relying on the strong member base to promote and market their brands and environment. Others have kept the gates closed.
This is an arena that has become the new battleground for software houses, with Yammer and Salesforce applying the early breaks to introduce enterprise-specific social portals.
The model utilized by these enterprise options is similar to Facebook’s historic model; allowing people of one domain network to connect. In such cases, an enterprise deploys a social platform for all its employees to utilize for all communication, at the office and beyond the doors of the workplace. For a large organization, this is one of the best and low-cost ways to have its people get to know each other, especially in light of the segmentation and segregation that most large entities employ for efficient working processes. Additionally, with Admin control remaining in the hands of the company, the chances of mischief can be minimized.
Convofy
Scrybe, an Adobe Systems Inc. & LMK Resources funded Tech company, (with roots in Pakistan) has become the new member of the social networking arena, launching Convofy.
Being the proud creators of a popular calendaring and personal productivity suite, the new product aims to revolutionize the social networking experience for enterprises. Key features that its founder Faizan Buzdar has been quick to highlight include:
Features:
- Microblogging & Status Updates – See your team’s updates in real-time and never miss what your co-workers are sharing. Your team comments on the posts you share, and you see all conversations in real-time. You can talk with your co-workers, not at them.
- Sharing Files & Images with Unlimited Storage – Upload and share images or documents with your co-workers or groups without a worry about storage limits. Quickly get your point across using annotations and context.
- Sharing Blogs, Articles, Web Links – Create a knowledgebase for your team simply by sharing links and capturing conversations on the signals within those articles. Sharing links is literally as easy as drag and drop.
- Sharing To-Dos & Milestones – Share to-do lists and milestones with your co-workers. Multiple people can interact with a task list, in real-time, so everyone in your team is on top of what is going on.
- Presence and Company Chat – Know who is online at your workplace and available for chat. You can start a private chat with one person or you can start a chat within a post so all relevant teammates know what’s going on.
- Motivational Analytics – The size of the presence bubble tells how actively your co-workers are contributing in to the system. Each post shows who you are most likely to chat with. Your contacts and groups are organized based on your interaction with them.
- Employee Profiles – Find relevant information about co-workers and discover domain experts across your organization.
- Mobile App – Convofy’s mobile web app is available for any modern device including the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc. Stay connected with what is going on at work, even when you are not there.
- Private and Secure – Your security is Convofy’s top priority. Work in a private and secure environment in the cloud.
- Groups – Create private groups for teams, projects and topics and invite relevant coworkers.
- Unlimited Storage – Share away with unlimited storage on Convofy.
- Unlimited Users – Your entire company can join your private network. Only a work email address is needed.
- Administrative Tools – Claim the data in your company network. Manage and moderate content with advanced administrative tools.
- Guest Users – Work with people outside your network, such as clients and contractors by inviting them to groups.
- Security Controls – Convofy is safe and secure. Customize password and usage policies. Restrict usage to an IP ranges, or restrict guest domains.
- Network Wide Keyword Search – Search the entire network for keywords in one click.
- Priority Support – Access to our enhanced support option for any queries from your company.
User experience seems to be the vital aspect considered during the design of Convofy, and the only way to get the complete feel for it would be to try it out. The viral impact of the product has already had several competitors sign up to review the platform, while also enticing large enterprises to join and give their workforce a vital connection tool.
Just like all of us would like our mobiles to be the all-in-one device, Convofy aims to do the same with the office environment. Still early days to predict the success factor, but things are appearing green at the moment.
Take a look for yourself and share the experience: http://www.convofy.com
Have a look at following preview video:
Indeed social net working is a must do thing for today’s business. Developing your social profiles on different renowned social networking sites, is just like doing a promotional campaign for the entire company’s products(s).