We're doing Yammer: A workplace Twitter

If you're interested in Yammer you should check out http://present.ly. It's a micro-blogging tool for business like Yammer, but with added features like media sharing and groups.

These kind of tool are powerful but need an extensive range of privacy settings if they want to fit in a complex organization.

And just as a coincidence, "Jammern" (close enough) in Germany kind of means to lament or to complain ;)

re: behavior change if someone at work is following you...

I remember a moment of "oh crap" at my last job when the head marketing dude started to follow my Twitter feed. Did it change my behvaiour? Probably not but it did make me more conscious about what I posted particularly during the work day.

There's also a platform called SocialCast that provides "Twitter for the enterprise" It appears that the main difference between Yammer and SocialCast, is that SocialCast is installed behind the firewall. I wrote about it here: http://bit.ly/3Lb6zl (I have no affiliation with SocialCast, by the way).
Patrick

I agree with some of the posters that Twitters seemingly random 140 character limit does help with message clarity. Good question about changing behavior. With businesses getting more social... it is an interesting question to raise.

This is just another example. Of how businesses are wading into the web 2.0 waters. There is much to be gained by exploring, you just need to make sure it will help your business.

Brian
http://www.konnects.com

Completely agree about sticking with Twitter. The only person in my office who I care to micro-communicate (?) with is already on Twitter. The last thing I would want is another tool to be micro-managed with incessant yamming from my bosses.

We just started using it. I definitely see the use in having a stream for twitter related content and another bizcom. "gonna be in late today, got to hit the dentist" is junk in the inbox, and irrelevant for twitter, but a snap and relevant in yammer.

I don't see the character length as a problem. it spills over into a new txt easily and everyone knows that 160 is the limit for txt.

Not sure how it's going to work out, we'll see... But I can say that the atmospheric awareness I've gotten from twitter of my circles of friends is valuable, and having that for our company will make us stronger. We're a 60 person webdev and marketing co with 2 offices and several satellite people, so communication can be challenging.

Mike Henderson
blog.twelvehorses.com

I love Yammer. We've been using it in our start-up Alice.com for about a week. In a small org like ours, it gives us a bullpen feel of sharing the same workspace without having to sit next to each other. You can read more on my blog if interested: flywheelblog.com

WRT message length, you missed one BIG point: it's absolutely impossible to press the [Enter] key without submitting the message on the website. This would make quite hard for anyone trying to write a lot in a single paragraph :)

Dunno about the other clients they offer, though...

Hmm...i like Yammer because is a great product that has ability to improve communications and create transparency by virtually making company’s structure flat. I work for LADevelopers Inc. (http://www.ladevelopers.com) a California based software development firm. We specialize in custom Yammer solutions for enterprise and know this product inside out. Please contact us if you need any help with it.