Microsoft Develops Corporate Social Networking Tool

Most companies discourage social networking at work, but Microsoft is testing a new product that could make it part of the job.

The Microsoft Office Labs team has developed an internal, business-oriented social networking tool called TownSquare. The utility is set to be revealed at tomorrow’s Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston, according to information obtained by ComputerWorld.

The system is said to resemble Facebook, but with a slightly less entertaining intention. Its goal is to let employees stay up-to-date with industry news as well as their own colleagues’ work and progress. It even has a feature that can let you see when someone has created or updated a document — something that may give bosses an added way to monitor progress.

TownSquare is currently being used by numerous Microsoft employees and is also being tested at some other corporations, none of which has been named.