Yahoo Mixes Up Its Social Mash

Making mash is usually the job of brew masters and Appalachian moonshine specialists. But now Yahoo has decided it wants to be part of the fun.

Hoping to compete with popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, Yahoo is getting ready to introduce Mash (currently invite-only) to the public.

According to early reports, Mash allows users to add photos and other media to a profile page, in much the same fashion as other networking sites allow users to maintain their profiles. However, the secret ingredient in this mash recipe is a feature that allows for users to create and edit their friends’ profiles.

Sounds like a nice hook for acquiring new users. Person One sends an invite to view Person Two’s very own profile page. How will Person Two be able to resist joining Mash to fine-tune / correct-the-blatant-errors in their already-existing profile page? Of course, users will be able to adjust permissions to limit editing or completely turn off the capability.

Yahoo has its work cut out for it, if the search company expects Mash to match the popularity levels of MySpace and Facebook. Especially since this is Yahoo’s second attempt to make the social scene. (Yahoo 360 being the first.)

However, the popularity of MySpace and Facebook is also the very reason to introduce Mash to the marketplace. After all, people are always thirsty for more.