'Facebook At Work' Is Secretly Being Developed

The Financial Times reported Sunday that the social networking giant is trying to gain traction in the workplace. Facebook did not immediately comment on the report.

Facebook is secretly working on a site for people to connect with their coworkers, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

"Facebook At Work" will look similar to the social network that's already used by 1.35 billion people, the Financial Times reported. Users will be able to separate their personal and professional posts, however.

Facebook did not comment on the report, and no official announcement has been made.

The report followed a piece by TechCrunch in June revealing the development of FB@Work. At that point, it wasn't clear exactly what the scope of the project would be. A former employee said creating an enterprise product within Facebook had been started and stopped several times.

The new Financial Times report now says that a London-based team is working on a product that will allow coworkers to chat, collaborate on documents and connect with other professionals, capabilities that will bring Facebook into competition with tech giants including Microsoft and Google.

Facebook employees have made no secret about their use of Facebook groups and messages to do their jobs. In addition to promoting efficiency, being Facebook friends with coworkers eases office tensions, according to Facebook's Mike Rognlien.

"We want people to be themselves and get to know each other as people, not just as coworkers," he told Fortune in June.

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