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Review: Yahoo! Mash, a new social networking site

News Type: Event — Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:25 PM EDT

My Mash profile showing the main column.

My Flicker module.

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Saturday morning I read about Mash, Yahoo's new social networking site, and decided to try it out. Mash is still in beta and accounts are still by invitation only but somehow by Saturday afternoon I had an invite from Yahoo. I have only played with it for a few hours but I like it and it has a lot of potential.

Yahoo Mash is still very new but I like it better than MySpace and it is a lot better than Yahoo 360 however it lacks a number of features, especially when compared with Facebook.

In a way Mash blends features from MySpace and Facebook. Like MySpace you can customize the look and style of your profile but unlike MySpace there are limits and there are some basic point-and-click ways to customize your page. One thing Mash lacks in this area that would be nice is the ability to upload a background image. You can link to an image but it would be easier and nicer to be able to have Yahoo store a few images to set at you pleasure. You do not seem to be able to just add any CSS code that you want. This is the main reason MySpace pages often are so horrible to look at. People get CSS code from friends or web sites and just dump it into MySpace which frequently leads to garish looking pages.

Mash looks like Facebook in that it has a cleaner and more organized look than MySpace. Mash also has modules which are like Facebook's applications. There are a limited number of modules right now but there are several that are very useful. The Blog Module takes any RSS 2.0 feed and puts it onto your Mash page. There is also a Flickr module and I saw a few YouTube modules. The Twitter module is just so-so, links in Twits are not clickable. Currently there are about 30 modules listed as popular, but Yahoo says they are opening up module development to third parties so hopefully more modules will be available soon.

Also like Facebook with Mash you can set who can see what and edit what is on your page. On Mash friends are categorized as Best Friends, Family or Just Friends. Then under Settings > Permissions you can set who can see your profile and post to your Guestbook (among other things). Under Settings you can also block people from your Mash page. It would be nice to be able to group friends but maybe Yahoo will add this ability in the future.

One tip, go to Settings > Simple URL and activate your simple URL. It will give you a web address that's easy to use, like mine: http://mash.yahoo.com/mydree . If you would like an invitation to Yahoo's Mash then send me your email address ( mydree(at)yahoo(dot)com ) and I will send you an invitation. I'm not sure how many invitations that I get but I will do the best that I can.

Mash is far from perfect but it is a good first step in the right direction, check it out if you are at all interested in social networking web sites.

  • 16 Votes
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8.4
7.2
{"commentId":1026672,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
Michael Sautter

I forgot to mention that I tried out Mash on a
MacBook and a Ubuntu machine (both with
Firefox) and didn't experience any problems.

{"commentId":1026672,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 7 votes
Reply#1 - Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:31 PM EDT
{"commentId":1026693,"authorDomain":"SVForbes"}
ShaunV

Thanks for the review, Mydree.

{"commentId":1026693,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"SVForbes"}
  • 7 votes
Reply#2 - Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:42 PM EDT
{"commentId":1026707,"authorDomain":"dojc"}
Mike Dojc

yah cool beans dree, hadn't heard of this before sounds interesting.

{"commentId":1026707,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"dojc"}
  • 6 votes
Reply#3 - Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:50 PM EDT
{"commentId":1027700,"authorDomain":"aprilwatkins"}
April Watkins

Great count me in! I am glad I found your page!

{"commentId":1027700,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"aprilwatkins"}
  • 5 votes
Reply#4 - Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:27 AM EDT
{"commentId":1027727,"authorDomain":"onlineapps"}
Andy Min

I don't know about background images. That was part of the MySpace problem. Same with CSS.

My biggest question is: do you think it can beat Facebook and/or MySpace? The problem is that both Facebook and MySpace have bigger communities. And that's what's really going to drive users.

{"commentId":1027727,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"onlineapps"}
  • 5 votes
Reply#5 - Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:40 AM EDT
{"commentId":1029645,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
Michael Sautter

It is probably too early to say whether or not Mash can beat Facebok and MySpace, but I think there's a good possibility that Mash can seriously contend with them. Yahoo 360 never even did that.

{"commentId":1029645,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 4 votes
#5.1 - Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:00 AM EDT
{"commentId":1049043,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
Michael Sautter
I don't know about background images. That was part of the MySpace problem. Same with CSS

Mash has a nice feature if you do not like the background image and styling on a profile. Just click 'this is fugly' and you get a plain vanilla version of the profile. Brilliant!

Try it out on my Mash profile .

{"commentId":1049043,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 4 votes
#5.2 - Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:58 PM EDT
{"commentId":1050023,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}
Viki Babbles Gonia

I tried to try it, but it won't let me in because it's a beta thing. Waa.

{"commentId":1050023,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}
  • 4 votes
#5.3 - Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:37 PM EDT
{"commentId":1050060,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
Michael Sautter

Viki if you want an invite then I can send you one.
Just send me your email address - mydree(at)yahoo(dot)com .

{"commentId":1050060,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 4 votes
#5.4 - Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:58 PM EDT
{"commentId":1050133,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}
Viki Babbles Gonia

Already did! Thanks, Mydree!

{"commentId":1050133,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}
  • 3 votes
#5.5 - Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:28 PM EDT
Reply
{"commentId":1027842,"authorDomain":"Pasi"}
PasiDeleted
{"commentId":1030755,"authorDomain":"SimplyTRUE"}
Orlando Dozier

Thanks for the post Mydree and let us know if you get some invites.

{"commentId":1030755,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"SimplyTRUE"}
  • 4 votes
Reply#7 - Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:45 PM EDT
{"commentId":1031134,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
Michael Sautter

I have Mash invites, send me your email address if you want one.
My email address is mydree(at)yahoo(dot)com .

{"commentId":1031134,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 5 votes
#7.1 - Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:14 PM EDT
Reply
{"commentId":1049045,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
Michael Sautter

I still have Mash invites, send me your email address if you want one.
My email address is mydree(at)yahoo(dot)com .

{"commentId":1049045,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 4 votes
Reply#8 - Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:59 PM EDT
{"commentId":1050478,"authorDomain":"fscott"}
Frank Scott

I just sent you an email, Mydree. Thanks for the invitation if you have any left, and thanks even if you don't. :-)

{"commentId":1050478,"threadId":"150835","contentId":"964559","authorDomain":"fscott"}
  • 3 votes
Reply#9 - Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:17 AM EDT
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