Yahoo 360: The Blog Ghost Town
Rafat Ali points to an AdAge scoop that Yahoo is launching a consumer tech vertical site tomorrow that will serve as a model for future launches. The site will include a mix of licensed, original and consumer created content.
The social media highlights include user reviews from Yahoo's shopping site and Yahoo Answers. In addition, Yahoo Tech will feature a small group of bloggers, such as fomer USA Today columnist Robin Raskin (a friend o'Steve) and Gina Hughes, who will focus on gadgets.
I think this continues Yahoo's leadership in driving citizen's media revolution.But curiously, Yahoo 360 is noticeably absent - at least from the story, which most likely means from the product as well. Whether it's in or not, can someone tell me what the heck is going on with 360? Is Yahoo marketing it? It's like Geo Cities all over again. Nielsen said it had 3M users in March. MSN Spaces has double that - just in Europe.
I am beginning to think that Yahoo 360 has slipped and that Yahoo is quietly sweeping it under a big purple rug with a yellow "Y!" on it. It has very little mindshare. Unlike MSN Spaces, which is a bona-fide hit, and Blogger, the granddaddy of blogs, Yahoo 360 is largely a forgotten product. I can't remember the last time I read any blog on 360. Worse, the fact that virtually all of Yahoo's blogs, such as news and health, utilize other technology is a sign that Yahoo 360 is largely Geo Cities 2.0. (Disclaimer: Edelman is one of Microsoft's PR agencies.)
From just briefly visiting Yahoo Tech, it looks like an online mall. The emphasis is on cell phones, laptops and other gadgets, (thus the name Tech of course). It's basically a Yahoo sponsored catalog. I agree that Yahoo 360 is pretty dead. But I wouldn't give up on it yet. It's still got a beta sticker on it. And unlike Google, I don't think Yahoo abuses that sticker.
Posted by:Techie | Sunday, April 30, 2006 at 11:44 PM
If you were to be attracted to a Y! 360 blogger it would most likely be a friend or family member. It is not a platform for wholesale blogging. Rather it is a quick way to set up communication and sharing with friends and family.
Fortunately, there are a lot of people who are all about doing that.
Posted by:Joe Beaulaurier | Monday, May 01, 2006 at 05:47 PM
I should have also mentioned that most posts are not for public viewing (secured behind ID access) since they are only for friends and family. This means BlogPulse won't see them.
Posted by:Joe Beaulaurier | Monday, May 01, 2006 at 05:53 PM
I think of Yahoo! 360 as Myspace Lite. It's okay for what it is, but they still haven't fully integrated it into their other services.
Posted by:Carl Starrett | Monday, May 01, 2006 at 11:51 PM
Insightful though I'm sorry 360 has not been a bigger hit. Seems to me it's probably the most "robust" of the big solutions and really has huge potential to be "the" social network for those who are not interested in a Myspace style kid experience. But I agree that without Yahoo pushing this solution it'll die on the vine.
Posted by:Joe Hunkins | Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 06:16 PM
Seems to me it's probably the most "robust" of the big solutions and really has huge potential to be "the" social network for those who are not interested in a Myspace style kid experience.
That is exactly what I like about 360. It's a Myspace sans the kid experience.
Posted by:LossAngeles | Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 09:13 PM
My http://ca.360.yahoo.com/neuroaster is my refuge and strength :)
Posted by:Jon Pear | Friday, September 14, 2007 at 11:11 AM
Yahoo still can't seem to figure out what it wants to do with 360. I've never seen a single advertisement for 360 and now Mash seems to be Yahoo's attempted to become a cross between Facebook and Myspace.
Posted by:Carl | Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 10:03 AM