Professional/ Social Networking suggestions

[kristalsoldier]

Hi all...

I was wondering if you could help me out with your suggestion on the following:

I am looking for free (at the moment) alternatives to a Facebook-like service. The idea is that some of us at work would like to have a space where we can connect our work-related research. Ideally, our workplace should be providing an intranet, but the IT Dept. is a bit short-sighted and have only worked out a solution for themselves. They say that they are testing the platform, but that has been going on for a while.

We did consider Google+ but being a part of some private circles, I did not find it interesting and/ or engaging. So, I would like to know if there are any alternatives - free at the moment (hopefully with full functionality). If over a trial period of say 3-6 months we find that it suits our purposes, then we could also opt for a paid service. The only condition is that whatever the solution be, it has to be platform-agnostic (since we will use all OSs across a variety of devices to access the service).

Thanks in advance.

 

[J515OP]

Google was going to be my suggestion. It is probably the best option for what you are looking for including Google Drive integration and multi-platform capabilities.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Thanks. I hate Google Drive, actually. Any experience with private (but free) wikis?

 

[J515OP]

Do you need more of the social aspect (facebook) or the collaboration aspect (Google Drive)? If I recall you possibly have Office 365 for work and can also consider SharePoint.

 

[ArnoldC]

SharePoint
Sent from my Windows Phone 8S by HTC using Board Express

 

[kristalsoldier]

Re: Office 365. I have not yet signed up for the service. I also don't think the rest of the folks in my group will - at least as of now because it will require us getting clearances from our IT people who, frankly, are a bit behind the curve.

Our group consists of about 25-30 people. What we are looking for is a site that functions as a virtual meeting room where we can post aspects of our research to enable us to collectively spot areas where our research activities converge such that we can exploit those convergences. This means that, ideally, we are looking for both the social (work-related though) aspect and the collaboration aspect. You see, as things currently stand, we meet only during formal meetings. At other times, our meetings are ad-hoc. We may run into each other in the corridors and spend some time chatting or retire to a coffee-shop where we exchange ideas. Like I said, it is all very ad-hoc and there is no continuity and often with the lapse in time (between meetings) we lose the sense of continuity. We are, therefore, looking for a solution that addresses these needs.

 

[ArnoldC]

Exactly, SharePoint

 

[jnjroach]

Yammer would be the choice if you are really looking for a Professional Closed Social Network, other wise SharePoint.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Seriously guys, I did say "free"...if we pay for it, it has to go through our IT dept., and they will cause problems as I previously explained.

 

[ArnoldC]

Check Rackspace SharePoint hosting, but only 45-days trial.