Microsoft is testing its new prototype - a social networking service specifically designed to be used on company intranets.The service, named TownSquare, is currently being tested in Microsoft offices and by several unnamed businesses in order to find out what works and what doesn't, so that the eventual product release will have "version three goodness [in the] first release", Office Labs general manager Chris Pratley told the New York Times.
TownSquare has some similarities to popular social networking site Facebook - it uses feeds to keep employees updated about their colleagues and allows photo uploading and profile editing. It also keeps track of employee promotions and company anniversaries, meaning colleagues will know when to congratulate their friends or feel bitter about their enemies.
The system is currently being used daily by around 700 Microsoft employees and has been visited by 8,000, its circulation being largely word of mouth through Microsoft offices. Employees using it daily are able to update their statuses in a Facebook style, letting others know when they are away from their desks at a meeting or out to lunch.
One of its most popular aspects is actually to do with work - employees have reported welcoming the feature that makes it possible to monitor the progress of colleagues' document creation and editing.
TownSquare could make surfing a networking site out-with your lunch-break an acceptable practise, but as Microsoft is determined to make the release of TownSquare as kink-free as possible, it looks like we might have a while to wait before we hear about it being released to a wider domain.
