Archive for September 15th, 2007
Yahoo! Mash
I’ve been hearing Y! Mash for awhile now, but didn’t really take any interest in it. After seeing that Mashable had invites up, I decided to check it out. Needless to say, I’m not that impressed.
My first thoughts was that it’s very ‘boxy’. By that I mean that…well it’s very boxy. Every module/section is separated into it’s own box. Though this gives it a very simplistic feel, it doesn’t make it very appealing to the eyes. The customization is limited to selecting a background image, font colors and module colors. However, the image section (at the top of the page) is designed like a classic Polaroid, I like that. The catch though is that when adding an image you’re forced to crop it if it’s too large, it doesn’t give you the option of simply resizing it to fit.
The network allows friends to modify each other’s profiles (if the option is selected) which is interesting, but not that great. Given the fact that many people add everybody who requests it to friend lists, many users will end up having their pages ‘violated’. I think right now Y! Mash is giving me more of a ‘Geocities page builder’ vibe than a social network. There just isn’t enough there to actually consider this to be anything more than an extended profile, not a social networking site.
The modules that they give you access to aren’t anything ground breaking (such as including an amazon wish list or Flickr RSS feed) so it’s hard to say if there is going to be something to make it stand out. Right now I’m thinking no. Let’s hope for some improvement by the time they get out of Beta. Also profile ID’s are a pain to remember unless you link it to your Yahoo account, which is a bummer. Oh well.
If you’re looking for invites, feel free to drop a comment and I’ll make sure to ‘hook you up’. While you’re at it, check out my Y! Mash profile
More Yahoo! Mash talk:
The Assumptions That Yahoo Mash And Other Social Networks Make About You @ Publishing 2.0
Yahoo Invites Us Into Mash, Its New Social Network @ TechCrunch
What Is Yahoo Mash? @ The NY Times
