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What would be the point of building a social network for Yahoo? Better engagement? I'm pretty sure they always have been a destination for much of their audie

by skewart 11y ago

What would be the point of building a social network for Yahoo? Better engagement? I'm pretty sure they always have been a destination for much of their audience (as opposed to depending on social sharing to get eyeballs, like, say BuzzFeed). So I'm not sure they'd have a whole lot to gain from it. Of course, their audience probably will spend more and more time on social networks, so stemming that tide somehow might make sense. Rather than building out a full-scale social network like Google+ they might be better served by aiming for something like Reddit, or HN. There's enough sociability and gamification to make it an engaging destination, but it's not confusingly trying to reproduce a Facebook. Of course maybe this kind of lightweight social network is what you meant in the first place.

smegel 11y ago
> What would be the point of building a social network for Yahoo? Better engagement? Maybe just more engagement. People spend a hell of a lot of time on Facebook. I am thinking a social networking site like Facebook, combined with a mobile app that not only acts as a client to the social network, but also emulates the easy sharing features of instagram/snapshat/periscope. Something the younger generation will want to use all day. I mean, the hardest thing about building a social network is getting users. It is not as simple as "built it and they will come". Yahoo already has the users, to not leverage them seems crazy (or maybe I am). And in response to other comments about Tumblr...just no. Tumblr is not a social network, it is a bogging site, one of many. Facebook doesn't have a stand alone blogging site, and Google has left it's one to rot, there is probably a good reason for this.
- henrikschroder 11y ago
  > the hardest thing about building a social network is getting users Going by the trainwreck that was Google+, I think you're completely wrong on this one.
  - taneq 11y ago
    Google+ was going great guns until they started forcing people to use real names everywhere. There's a big step between "building a social network" and "trying to own your users' real life identities".
  - skewart 11y ago
    I disagree. There's a big difference between "users" and active, engaged users. Google+ may have had a lot of users on paper, but relatively few people actually spent much time using it. The hard part about building a social network for a company like Google, or even Yahoo, isn't getting user accounts. It's making something that people actually want to use.
    - henrikschroder 11y ago
      I don't think you're arguing with me, because that was exactly my point as well?
tomc1985 11y ago
Why does the world need yet another social network?
- skewart 11y ago
  I'm defining "social network" pretty broadly, including websites that have a strong social component, like HN, reddit and imgur. These kinds of online communities tend to make people happy, and they let them form friendships and exchange ideas. If a new one emerges then it's probably making some critical mass of people happy. I would guess that Yahoo's audience might not have a ton of exposure to all the different social networks out there on these days, and they might appreciate a stronger community aspect to Yahoo. A Facebook clone wouldn't make sense, but something that gave it more of the flavor of imgur or HN might. Though I suspect that would be really hard to pull off. It wouldn't be the bet thing for Yahoo to focus on, but it wouldn't be the worst.
  - smcnally 11y ago
    They've done Buzz! (very Digg/reddit/HNews-like) and a handful of other social net products since their founding. Executing that well -- like with most things -- takes focus and willingness to get behind something particular, rather than everything, and Yahoo's often spread their peanut butter a little thin. http://www.wsj.com/public/article/SB116379821933826657-0mbjXoHnQwDMFH_PVeb_jqe3Chk_20061125.html http://www.wsj.com/public/article/SB116379821933826657-0mbjX...

by skewart 11y ago

smegel 11y ago

> What would be the point of building a social network for Yahoo? Better engagement? Maybe just more engagement. People spend a hell of a lot of time on Facebook. I am thinking a social networking site like Facebook, combined with a mobile app that not only acts as a client to the social network, but also emulates the easy sharing features of instagram/snapshat/periscope. Something the younger generation will want to use all day. I mean, the hardest thing about building a social network is getting users. It is not as simple as "built it and they will come". Yahoo already has the users, to not leverage them seems crazy (or maybe I am). And in response to other comments about Tumblr...just no. Tumblr is not a social network, it is a bogging site, one of many. Facebook doesn't have a stand alone blogging site, and Google has left it's one to rot, there is probably a good reason for this.

henrikschroder 11y ago
> the hardest thing about building a social network is getting users Going by the trainwreck that was Google+, I think you're completely wrong on this one.
- taneq 11y ago
  Google+ was going great guns until they started forcing people to use real names everywhere. There's a big step between "building a social network" and "trying to own your users' real life identities".
- skewart 11y ago
  I disagree. There's a big difference between "users" and active, engaged users. Google+ may have had a lot of users on paper, but relatively few people actually spent much time using it. The hard part about building a social network for a company like Google, or even Yahoo, isn't getting user accounts. It's making something that people actually want to use.
  - henrikschroder 11y ago
    I don't think you're arguing with me, because that was exactly my point as well?

tomc1985 11y ago

Why does the world need yet another social network?

skewart 11y ago
I'm defining "social network" pretty broadly, including websites that have a strong social component, like HN, reddit and imgur. These kinds of online communities tend to make people happy, and they let them form friendships and exchange ideas. If a new one emerges then it's probably making some critical mass of people happy. I would guess that Yahoo's audience might not have a ton of exposure to all the different social networks out there on these days, and they might appreciate a stronger community aspect to Yahoo. A Facebook clone wouldn't make sense, but something that gave it more of the flavor of imgur or HN might. Though I suspect that would be really hard to pull off. It wouldn't be the bet thing for Yahoo to focus on, but it wouldn't be the worst.
- smcnally 11y ago
  They've done Buzz! (very Digg/reddit/HNews-like) and a handful of other social net products since their founding. Executing that well -- like with most things -- takes focus and willingness to get behind something particular, rather than everything, and Yahoo's often spread their peanut butter a little thin. http://www.wsj.com/public/article/SB116379821933826657-0mbjXoHnQwDMFH_PVeb_jqe3Chk_20061125.html http://www.wsj.com/public/article/SB116379821933826657-0mbjX...