Why Mosh Is The Right Dance Move For Yahoo
Last night, on my way to bed, I made a quick stop at TechCrunch and found out that Yahoo has a new social network, Mosh. Minutes later it came out that Google is sponsoring a CMU SocNet project, SocialStream. Is this W-O-W news?
We probably could have guessed that both companies had projects in development. But whereas SocialStream looks pretty amateurish in the demo, Mosh might just be ready for primetime soon.
It’s clear both companies need to make moves into social networking, and now. Facebook is on a tear and MySpace’s still growing fast. Combined, they’re the leading photo upload, people search and video-sharing (if you count YouTube’s presence on MySpace) sites on the web and poised to become ”the next homepage” or central hub of the personalized, community web.
Those GooBook rumors may even be true.
But for now, it’s a question of build vs. buy. And I think Yahoo’s got the right strategy with Mosh. Facebook’s off the table so long as Mark Z. thinks he can IPO, which he very well may. MySpace would be a strong fit, especially with its search traffic - 10% of Google’s, but at nowhere near Murdoch’s current valuation of $10B. MySpace may actually be worth that much on just the financials, but I just don’t think the timing is right.
And the lesser networks don’t offer the right demographic. Friendster, as the SocNet pioneer, skews to a crowd that’s now post-college, 25 - 35. Yahoo needs the younger segment, those in high school and just entering college, to stretch its mighty reach. This cannot be comprised: Demographics is destiny. Meanwhile Bebo has a female, African-American base. And Tagged might have once been a viable acquisition, but its notorious spam tactics are unforgivable.
If I had to buy, I’d buy Hi5 or Piczo. Hi5 plays to Yahoo’s international strengths, even as MySpace enters China. And Piczo will lead with kids. (The strict age controls could be relaxed for an adult section of the network, as Tagged was.)
According to Hitwise, Piczo is one of a handful of Web2.0 sites that is popular with the young & influential early adopters and thus poised to cross the chasm. With Yahoo Front Page integration, it could pole vault the Grand Canyon.
But it makes most sense for Yahoo to build. They know their communities best, and can customize a network from the ground up. With well-tuned viral acquisition strategies, Mosh will flourish.
Meanwhile, Google’s SocialStream appears to be just an aggregator. I guess this is useful, but I’m betting it will only appeal to a techy set of people who prefer utility over interface. MySpacers love to get submersed in friends’ personal pages. And Facebook retains an aura of exclusivity, despite the everyman email policy and developer platform.
Update: Pete Cashmere has an interesting post on the aggregator vs. “specialist” debate. I’m not sure how much I agree that MySpace is an aggregator given the volume of ugc created there first.
