--- title: "Wednesday Buzz: Facebook Goes to Work" id: "26803" type: "post" slug: "wednesday-buzz-facebook-goes-to-work" published_at: "2015-01-14T19:48:13+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T13:21:18+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/01/14/wednesday-buzz-facebook-goes-to-work/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/01/14/wednesday-buzz-facebook-goes-to-work.md" excerpt: "In a move that could redefine Facebook's relationship with the business world, Facebook at Work goes public. Also: the value of doing something rather than just talking about it." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Marketing" - "rebranding" - "Social Media" - "Technology" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Wednesday Buzz: Facebook Goes to Work In a survey we covered last week, [Dropbox won the award](http://associationsnow.com/2015/01/survey-shadow-it-becoming-a-top-level-problem/) for the app most likely to be blocked on corporate networks. Facebook isn’t far behind, with half of all respondents saying that they blocked access to the site on their corporate networks. Facebook isn’t taking that news idly: On Thursday, the company announced that it was [launching Facebook at Work (opens in a new tab)](http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/01/14/facebook-at-work-hits-app-stores/) , a business version of the social network. [In an interview with TechCrunch (opens in a new tab)](http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/14/facebook-at-work-ios-android/) , Lars Rasmussen, Facebook’s director of engineering, explained that the network has already been well tested internally—Facebook employees have been eating their own dog food for years. “Facebook at Work’s strength is that we’ve spent 10 years and incorporated feedback from 1 billion active users,” Rasmussen said. “All of that is embedded now in the same product but adapted for different use cases.” Rasmussen has a lot of experience building work-focused products. In a prior life, he led efforts to build Google Wave, a famous flop that nonetheless got good reviews, even if it [wasn’t able to build up a significant user base (opens in a new tab)](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html) . But Rasmussen has taken those lessons with him to the new project. “I can say that the challenges of making work more efficient is something that has been on my mind for a long time, and I come to it with a lot of passion and the knowledge of a failure of doing this at a different company,” he said. For now, the app is free to trial partners, though Rasmussen says there’s a chance the company could begin charging for it in the future. But, for now, there aren’t any ads, nor is there any tracking of employee data—two big differences between this app and the traditional Facebook user model. ### Easier Said Than Done > Marketing is not just about telling. Our marketing needs to mesh with what our [#association (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/association?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > is doing [http://t.co/olBAfFbro1 (opens in a new tab)](http://t.co/olBAfFbro1) > [#AssnChat (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/AssnChat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#ASAE (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ASAE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > > — Amanda Lea Kaiser (@AmandaLeaKaiser) [January 14, 2015 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/AmandaLeaKaiser/status/555393813506973696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **Actions speak louder than words.** That’s why it’s important to back up your marketing with action. Whenever an association says one thing but does another, “we erode trust, hurt the brand, break expectations, and provide poor member experiences,” Amanda Kaiser writes [on her Smooth the Path blog (opens in a new tab)](http://www.smooththepath.net/2015/01/13/not-just-say/) . “Association marketing is not just *saying*. It is also *doing* what we are *saying*.” It’s a simple point, but one that many organizations struggle with. Does yours? *(ht @[SmoothThePath (opens in a new tab)](http://twitter.com/SmoothThePath/) )* ### Other Links of Note **Trying to drive viewership** to your YouTube videos? [This viewership calendar (opens in a new tab)](http://www.tubefilter.com/2015/01/12/best-days-times-to-post-youtube-videos-yearly-calendar/) on *TubeFilter* might help you figure out exactly when you should post. **Your reputation precedes you,** and that’s especially true if you run a nonprofit. Blogger Colleen Dilenschneider [says you should take advantage of that (opens in a new tab)](http://colleendilen.com/2015/01/14/the-critical-role-of-reputation-in-nonprofit-success-data/) on every level of your organization. **Email isn’t going away,** so we have to learn to live with it, [CMS Wire‘s David Roe says (opens in a new tab)](http://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/sigh-email-isnt-going-anywhere-027714.php) . (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Marketing](https://associationsnow.com/tag/marketing/) [#rebranding](https://associationsnow.com/tag/rebranding/) [#Social Media](https://associationsnow.com/tag/social-media/) [#Technology](https://associationsnow.com/tag/technology/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoDaily Recap: Day 1 from the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 13, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/13/daily-recap-day-1-from-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoThe Future is Yours to Create. Attend MMC+T 2025!April 2, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/04/02/the-future-is-yours-to-create-attend-mmct-2025/) - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [VideoRecap from the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 19, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/19/recap-from-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2015%2F01%2F14%2Fwednesday-buzz-facebook-goes-to-work%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !