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In 1974 I was 8 years old. At that time there was an advertising campaign on TV for 'instant' mash potatoes called Smash made by Cadbury's. The ad slogan was 'For Mash get Smash'. With the introduction of Yahoo's new social networking service 'Mash', I speculate that Yahoo is actually run by the Smash robots!
Reading various posts on 360, I’m coming across various rumours about Yahoo 360 closing down and being replaced by a mish-mesh facebook called Mash.
Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to get myself an invite to this new service from Yahoo.
In the early stages of development this service was apparently going to be called Mosh!
But now it’s called Mash… hmmm, I came across an idea in their suggestions forum about Mash to rename it Mesh.
From Mosh to Mash to Mesh! What do you reckon guys? This is Yahoo’s attempt to provide a social networking service to compete with MySpace and Google’s Notebook. If we are going to have the M word then I think they should really go with Mesh rather than Mash since that more logically represents a network.
I’ve read a lot of criticism about Mash and some of it not particularly constructive criticism either and lot of it unsurprisingly from Yahoo 360 users. Now if it continues that way I can imagine that might only increase enthusiasm from the big boys in Yahoo to do what has been rumoured and shut down 360.
True, Yahoo are late to the fancy dress party with their version of a social network. I’ve no idea if it will work well or not. I know it’s geared to the younger market and I’m aware that Yahoo are looking for ways to increase their revenue. And certainly they may well get more revenue out of this service than with 360.
Some people have asked where is the blogging feature on Mash? Now I don’t know if they intend producing a new blogging feature to it or not but what I can tell you is that it’s probably not really necessary since it is very easy to produce your blog (from absolutely any internet blogging service with RSS 2.0) in the blog module on the Mash Profile page.
I personally have found it very easy to set up the Mash profile and to play around with the modules. You can delete any modules you don’t want except the four mains ones namely; Photo & ID, About Me, Tags, and Friends modules. You can juggle round the order and place the modules on the main left hand side or smaller right hand side of the page.
You can have plain and simple backgrounds or fancy HTML backgrounds. When you go to other people’s profiles if you see a module you like you can grab it (essentially copying) and have it added to your profile and even to the profiles of your friends if they have allowed you to do that.
Mash is still in it’s experimental stages and Yahoo are still working to debug certain features and add new features. Hopefully they will listen to the many suggestions being made in the suggestions forum and provide a product that will appeal to everyone.
It bothers me a little bit that many in the ‘mature’ crowd are giving Mash the cold brush. I realize accommodating change is something a lot of people don’t like doing. However, this is the twenty-first century and very much the age of rapid-change. Personally I’d had thought people should be getting used to change and learning to adapt by now but some people really don’t change!
The way I’ve set up my profile is from the point of view of using it as an interface to my 360 blog. If Yahoo’s Mash does succeed then I might be able to use the Mash profile and it’s network to find even more people who just might be interested in reading my terribly very dull blog (nah come on it’s not really is it?) on a regular basis. Maybe in later months it will also be a useful place to find specific groups of people I’d like to know or meet. After all that’s what this social networking is supposed to be all about isn’t it?
The tags module is precisely for the purpose of allowing you to connect with those with which you might have common interest. For example if you’re mad on photography you can add that word to the tags and hey-presto one click gives you a list of people who have also put the word in their tags.
You don’t have to be an HTML expert to master the Mash Profile. Once you’ve learned a few little simple tricks you will find that the Mash will be your Oyster!
If you are already 'Mashing' then you will be able to see how I've set up my Mash Profile to support my 360 blog. If you haven't already joined, I recommend you give it a try and I can send you an invite. When you have time I’d say make the effort to give it a go for a few weeks. Remember it’s still in development and Yahoo haven’t got to the stage of announcing this service with full fanfare. Hopefully when they are ready, they will give the full fanfare, and the network might expand very rapidly. If you want to join, send me your email address to my “Send Messages” mailbox on 360, and I’ll invite you to join Mash. If you’ve got questions I’ll try and help if I can.
Here is the link to: My Mash Profile
Well I hope that I'm not just being an old stick in the mud, but I really was not impressed by Mash when I took a look at it. It actually seems to be two steps backwards after Yahoo 360.
I'm always willing to give something new a try and, indeed, have set up both MySpace and Facebook pages, but they both seemed inferior to 360. Mash seems pretty much the same as Facebook to me, so if 360 does close down I'd probably opt for the real thing over the economy pack (although I don't really have much enthusiasm for Facebook either and would probably just drift away from social networking - a phrase I hate btw, LOL).
Oh well, maybe Yahoo will keep 360 for us old timers...now where did I leave my zimmer frame, sonny?
When I first learned about MySpace and I went to take a look, I couldn't make head or tail of it and never looked at it again. Similarly with Facebook, I looked at it and couldn't see what all the fuss was about and nor could I see how it could be useful to me.
And yet, upon learning about Yahoo's Mash I decide to give it a better try than what I'd given to Facebook and MySpace. And sure enough I could see that it's actually a lot easier to use than I had imagined. And what I really wanted to know was how perhaps I could use it with Yahoo 360.
I have managed with great ease to set up the profile to support the blog. So, all that remains is to see if in some point in the future whether my Mash Profile will serve as a good shop window into my blog.
I believe it's worth a try. I also believe that Yahoo's Mash does have the potential to be a useful product not only for the youngsters who love to play around with HTML graphics and display videos of their favourite music and whatever else they're into, but also for those of us who want to use it in a more serious way.
I've blogged about Mash myself. It's still very bare bones and basic at the moment and I'm reserving my final judgement until it's developed further. As it stands I can't see Mash competing either with established networking sites such as Facebook or with 360. I realise this is why it's not open to the general public yet. The big difference between purely social networks and Blogging sites such as 360 is that you don't get the same insight into the other people as you do by reading their blogs. I have a facebook account but use this purely for connecting with people I already know, with 360 you can read and comment on people's blogs and get to know them this way before sending invites, giving you more opportunity to make new friends. As I mentioned in my blog, for Mash to work it either needs to be linked directly to 360, or the two sites combined into one, giving existing 360 users the oppoertunity to import their blogs and profile detail to the new site.
Thanks for sharing your comment on my post. To be honest I don't care what Yahoo do. I'll go along with it and make the most of what they have to offer.
I'm frustrated that many people in 360 are not prepared to have an open mind on Mash. I don't know any more than anyone else about the fate of 360. But I do know I really like a lot about what 360 is at the moment and I'd love to see it improved. I find 360 the best blogging platform around... far better than Blogger etc...
As for Mash, I have my profile, and I'm waiting to see how it takes off and how it will be improved. If I can see it can be used to my advantage then I will use it. As simple as that.
I think that part of the problem is that if we wanted something along the lines of Facebook or My Space, we'd be at Facebook or My Space. The reason that 360 appeals is that it is different. Yahoo is too quick to abandon a good thing, to jump on the same bandwagon that everyone else is on. Why not improve what is there? Why not incorporate what they want from "mash" into the 360? People have put a lot of work into the development of their pages, built up social circles, etc. They don't want to be told that it's all going to be scrapped, and that they have to move....I've heard a lot of people talking, they are just getting disgusted with Yahoo, I'm afraid that if they are told that 360 will close, they won't stay with Yahoo, it's not the only game in town...they've already had it happen with the photos, which is a disaster.....many are upset about that.....and right on top of it, now we start hearing about this Mash Mess.....
Just as a mention: the terms & conditions for Mash are broadly similar to Y!360.
These can be found at the bottom of the page. For Mash there are also extra terms. It is always worthwhile to read the terms of service before engaging in a Yahoo service so that you know to what extent Yahoo can use your work for their purposes.
On the matter of intellectual property rights, if in the highly unlikely event that the material was used by Yahoo in a way that is not to your liking, then from the moment the content is removed from Yahoo's pages they cannot continue to use the material for their benefit.
At least that is my understanding of how I read the terms anyway. See last sentence of 8(b) of the terms. These terms in most of all the countries Yahoo operate are similar with them being subject to the laws of that particular country.
In my own opinion these terms of service for both Yahoo Mash & 360 are quite fair.
I found this blog.. excellent. a good critical analysis..
I'm too am seeing lots of people in 360 dissing Mash... without really giving it (or them a chance). In away we should view it as a learning process... Web 2 technology is for ever 'changing'.. and 360.. that I love to use catching up on my friends blogs (and they on mine)... is a little restrictive in what 'else' you can do... the front page is a little limiting... whereas Mash appears to give me the 'front page' social freedom and creativity I like... but without the 'blog' (but as you say this can be added from any RSS feed ... assuming your blog is public.. which mine isn't).
Mash and 360 compliment each other... you don't need both... (actually you need neither.. but some might like to .... and others... well its there choice.... but change happens.... and I'm enjoying being part of this change.
I am one of the critics that wrote about Mash. Perhaps it is a sign of age. I have no problem with templates or such, as I have done simple web sites myself. I think I was just annoyed at the way the system was being introduced. A chosen few that may give out invites. Eventually I got myself an invite (if you can't beat them join them) and after playing around with backgrounds and rss feeds I seem to have reached more or less what I want.
I just find that Yahoo has not been very honest with its members. The information concerning mash seemed to have been given out by other web sites and not by Yahoo itself, with the result that no-one really knew what was going on. Perhaps Yahoo 360 is something for the older, I only know that up to now I had no real interest in being in MySpace, MyFace, Yuku or whatever with their gags, tricks, flashy colours and other add ons. It now seems that Mash will just be a surface for the complete Yahoo and everything else stays, so I suppose, as someone mentioned it is all based on popularity and probably money. Long live 360° and Mash may also exist as it doesn't seem to be doing any harm at the moment.
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