Yahoo!, possibly reeling from the rejection of their bid from Facebook, is once again testing out a new angle on social media–Yahoo Mash. With an enormous user base of their Yahoo! services, there’s a huge potential for Yahoo if it catches on. I got beta access to the service and took it for a whirl. It my opinion, Yahoo Mash has a long way to go.
Yahoo! Mash – The Social Wiki
Mash is trying to fuse the idea of a social network and a personal wiki into one interface, a social wiki, if you will. Users can tweak their own pages and can directly edit the pages of other people. Obviously, this could get out of hand pretty quickly, so you can limit editing access to just friends, family or some other inner circle. When you invite someone to Mash, you can even create a page for them in advance that they ‘claim’ and make their own. This begs the question: who actually wants to do this? I’ve got a few theories:
- Tweens, Especially Girls – All social networks lend themselves to a frequent echo effect and inside jokes. The bar for Mash is even higher than a post or a poke. Cliquey groups with ample free time and a love of customizing
- Superfans - There’s no limit to the amount of time a true believer will dedicate to his or her favorite actor, show, etc. I could see the power of user generated content benefiting celebrity profiles and the like.
- Pranksters - Sad, but true. If new users are inclined to leave their profile editable, Mash could see a rash of punk edits. Presumably there are safeguards for this, but the temptation is there and goodwill is fleeting…
As far as looks go, Mash has opted for a more Facebook like approach with its Ajax-style drag and drop interface. Unlike Facebook, you have some more control over the design of the page, though not as much as MySpace (which I would argue is a good thing, though some of my friends think Facebook is “stuffy”). Mash also features apps, which are slated to open up to 3rd party developers in the near future, a mini-feed called the Pulse, and the ability to tag other users.
A Solution To Social Network Overload – Niche Networks
Just like micro-blogging platforms (my friends hate Pownce), we’re quickly becoming awash in social networks. It’s to the point where I might have more social networks than actual friends. Constantly porting people over to the latest and greatest is an ever difficult challenge without some unique selling proposition. For LinkedIn its professional advancement while Facebook pushes a streamlined and tech-savvy interface. Personally, I’ve largely reached my limit for general social networks and I think it’s time for a more targeted approach.
As it exists now, I don’t see Mash as a Facebook or MySpace killer. I think Mash’s greatest potential is in becoming a niche social network and targeting one particular group to own with a feature set built around them. The social network race is only going to continue to heat up, so keep your eyes open.
Would you like an invite to Mash? Leave me a comment or send a link my way. I will send you one.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“It’s to the point where I might have more social networks than actual friends.”
I wonder to what extent anyone’s thought about the impact of social networks on how we value our more casual friendships. I’ve still got a handful of acquaintances who’ve never “upgraded” from Friendster, and a slightly larger handful who only have identies on MySpace. I long to close up those older accounts, but it’s almost as though I would be turning my back on those late-or-never adopters. Is the girl I made friends with during that summer internship 10 years worth keeping Friendster active? An interesting social question…
Oh, and enjoy your vacation.
Nah, you should close Friendster… and every other social network unless you want to get show up in Google Base :-P
http://base.google.com/base/s2?a_n0=personals&a_y0=9&hl=en&gl=US