 |
 | |
| Developer(s) | Meta Platforms |
|---|---|
| Type | Collaborative software |
| Website | workplace |
Workplace is an online collaborative software tool developed by Meta Platforms. Its features include instant messaging, file sharing, and video and audio conferencing. It was announced on 14 May 2024 that Meta would be sunsetting Workplace in 2026.
Workplace was first announced on January 14, 2015. [1] It launched in beta as Facebook at Work before officially launching in October 2016. [2] [ better source needed ] Free accounts were discontinued as of February 2021.[ citation needed ]
Workplace for Good was launched in June 2018 to provide a free version of Workplace for registered non-profits and staff of educational institutions. [3]
In October 2018, Workplace announced the launch of Safety Check. [4] Originally developed by Facebook engineers after the 2011 Japanese tsunami,[ citation needed ] Safety Check for Workplace allows organizations to identify employees who may be affected by a crisis and send and monitor responses. Safety Check has been used by Delta Air Lines (during Hurricane Florence and the Hokkaido earthquake). [5]
As of May 2021, there were 7 million paying users. [6]
In May 2024, Meta announced that it would be phasing out Workplace and shutting it down completely in 2026. [7] [8]
While Workplace accounts are set up and run separately [9] from Facebook accounts, Workplace uses much of Facebook's underlying technology. Workplace uses machine learning to rank information in a user's news feed and make recommendations, while 'downranking' less relevant information. [10] Workplace data is stored across 12 Facebook-owned and operated data centers. [11]
PC Mag described it as "Facebook if your employer restricted membership to only your coworkers and bosses" and concluded "Workplace is what an organization makes of it". [12]
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate (real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involving simple text message exchanges, modern IM applications and services tend to also feature the exchange of multimedia, emojis, file transfer, VoIP, and video chat capabilities.
On websites that allow users to create content, content moderation is the process of detecting contributions that are irrelevant, obscene, illegal, harmful, or insulting, in contrast to useful or informative contributions, frequently for censorship or suppression of opposing viewpoints. The purpose of content moderation is to remove or apply a warning label to problematic content or allow users to block and filter content themselves.
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by American technology conglomerate Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name derives from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities. Since 2006, Facebook allows everyone to register from 13 years old, except in the case of a handful of nations, where the age limit is 14 years. As of December 2022, Facebook claimed almost 3 billion monthly active users. As of October 2023, Facebook ranked as the third-most-visited website in the world, with 22.56% of its traffic coming from the United States. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s.
Badoo is a dating-focused social network founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev in 2006. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus and London, United Kingdom, with offices in Malta, Russia and the United States. It operates in 190 countries and is available in 47 languages, making it the world's most widely used dating network. The app is available on iOS, Android, and the web. Badoo operates on a freemium model, whereby the core services can be used without payment.
Instagram is an American photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with preapproved followers. Users can browse other users' content by tags and locations, view trending content, like photos, and follow other users to add their content to a personal feed. A Meta-operated image-centric social media platform, it is available on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and the web. Users can take photos and edit them using built-in filters and other tools, then share them on other social media platforms like Facebook. It supports 32 languages including English, Hindi, Spanish, French, Korean, and Japanese.
WhatsApp is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.
Messenger, also known as Facebook Messenger, is an American proprietary instant messaging service developed by Meta Platforms. Originally developed as Facebook Chat in 2008, the client application of Messenger is currently available on iOS and Android mobile platforms, Windows and macOS desktop platforms, through the Messenger.com web application, and on the standalone Facebook Portal hardware.
Slack is a cloud-based team communication platform developed by Slack Technologies, which has been owned by Salesforce since 2020. Slack uses a freemium model. Slack is primarily offered as a business-to-business service, with its userbase being predominantly team-based businesses while its functionalities are focused primarily on business administration and communication.
Giphy, styled as GIPHY, is an American online database and search engine that allows users to search for and share animated GIF files.
Reality Labs, formerly Oculus VR, is a business and research unit of Meta Platforms that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as the Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon Worlds. In June 2022, several artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives that were previously a part of Meta AI were transitioned to Reality Labs. This also includes Meta's fundamental AI Research laboratory FAIR which is now part of the Reality Labs - Research (RLR) division.
Facebook has been involved in multiple controversies involving censorship of content, removing or omitting information from its services in order to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws.
Messenger Kids is an instant messenger introduced by Meta Platforms in December 2017, aimed at providing a secure alternative for a younger audience compared to the standard Messenger platform. Initially launched exclusively for iPad tablets running the iOS operating system in the United States, subsequent updates extended support to iPhone and Android devices, reaching additional markets such as Canada, Peru, and Mexico.
IGTV, short for Instagram TV, was a video application by Instagram for Android and iOS smartphones. It allowed for longer videos compared to Instagram feeds. IGTV was available as a stand-alone app, though basic functionality was also available within the Instagram app and website.
Meta Portal is a discontinued brand of smart displays and videophones released in 2018 by Meta. The product line consists of four models: Portal, Portal+, Portal TV, and Portal Go. These models provide video chat via Messenger and WhatsApp, augmented by a camera that can automatically zoom and track people's movements. The devices are integrated with Amazon's voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service Alexa.
Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta, and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services. Advertising accounts for 97.8 percent of its revenue. Originally known as the parent company of the Facebook service, as Facebook, Inc., it was rebranded to its current name in 2021 to "reflect its focus on building the metaverse", an integrated environment linking the company's products and services.
Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, has faced a number of privacy concerns. These stem partly from the company's revenue model that involves selling information collected about its users for many things including advertisement targeting. Meta Platforms Inc. has also been a part of many data breaches that have occurred within the company. These issues and others are further described including user data concerns, vulnerabilities in the company's platform, investigations by pressure groups and government agencies, and even issues with students. In addition, employers and other organizations/individuals have been known to use Meta Platforms Inc. for their own purposes. As a result, individuals’ identities and private information have sometimes been compromised without their permission. In response to these growing privacy concerns, some pressure groups and government agencies have increasingly asserted the users’ right to privacy and to be able to control their personal data.
Ray-Ban Meta is a range of smartglasses created by Meta Platforms and EssilorLuxottica. They include two cameras, open-ear speakers, a microphone, and touchpad built into the frame. They are latest in a line of smartglasses released by major companies including Snap Inc and Google and are designed as one component of Facebook’s plans for a metaverse.
Facebook and Meta Platforms have been criticized for their management of various content on posts, photos and entire groups and profiles. This includes but is not limited to allowing violent content, including content related to war crimes, and not limiting the spread of fake news and COVID-19 misinformation on their platform, as well as allowing incitement of violence against multiple groups.
Meta AI is a company owned by Meta that develops artificial intelligence and augmented and artificial reality technologies. Meta AI deems itself an academic research laboratory, focused on generating knowledge for the AI community, and should not be confused with Meta's Applied Machine Learning (AML) team, which focuses on the practical applications of its products.