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Blog Host: Yahoo! 360°
Blog Host URL: http://360.yahoo.com/
Popularity (Alexa Rank): 1 (as a subdomain of yahoo.com)

MY OVERALL IMPRESSION...
My impression of Yahoo 360° is that it is more of a social tool meant for sharing photos, links, etc., than a serious blogging platform. It appears to be very limited as far as traditional blogging features go, but it is well integrated into Yahoo's existing social network. It is very easy to use, but, at the same time, very simple, which might appeal to folks who are not all that comfortable working with HTML or CSS and willing to sacrifice functionality for ease of use. If you're already set up with a Yahoo passport and are looking to network with friends, check out Yahoo 360°. If you want to create a blog, keep looking.

WHAT OTHERS THINK...
"Yahoo! 360 - A Quick Rev'w" from Blogging Blog (1 Apr 05)

• "This is not a real blogging tool, though it would work fine for a journal or diary to share with friends."
• "...the privacy features are great."
• "The simplicity of the blogging feature should make it accessible to non-techies."
• "The Yahoo Photos feature seems, well ... ordinary."
• "Yahoo Photos offers printing service, which Flickr does not..."

You can read the full post at Blogging Blog: Yahoo! 360 - A Quick Rev'w


"First look at Yahoo! 360" from Charlene Li (24 Mar 05)

• "...the Yahoo! team has done an excellent job thinking through key details of how to not only integrate blogs and social networking, but also how to pull in elements from the Yahoo! network."
• "Central to the whole service is the concept that you want to communicate and connect with the people that you already know, rather than try to meet new people. To this end, your home page on the service shows the most recent content published by people within your network."
• "This fundamental concept of linking people through their updated “stuff” is what makes Yahoo! 360 unique - and inherently will drive usage of the service higher than traditional social networks. In essence, the content is being pushed to you by the service."
• "The profile page contains the usual features from social networking sites friends, profile, lists of things you like to do, where you work/went to school, and groups that you belong to on Yahoo! Groups. But it also excerpts content you’ve created that you want to share with your network."
• "Its similar to what MSN Spaces has, where users can add content from MSN Photos and MSN Music..."
• "Also similar to MSN Spaces... is the ability to set privacy controls for different pieces of content."
• "The blogging tool itself is pretty basic. It allows the insertion of photos, comments, and trackbacks. You can control who can post comments, again through your pre-set groups. Only photos are supported, but Yahoo plans to offer the attachment of other file types soon after beta launch."

You can read the full post at First look at Yahoo! 360


"Yahoo! 360 Rev'wed" from Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion (29 Mar 05)

• "While, I like what I see so far and I think 360 is very compelling as a personal blogging tool, it has some serious shortcomings that most veterans will not like."
• "...easily use it to share photos, moblog, connect with friends and family and find new friends."
• "...a perfect tool for consumer expression."
• "...relatively easy to use."
• "...some of the navigation is confusing."
• "As compelling as Yahoo! 360 is for newbies, it has virtually zero application as a professional/business blogging tool. It's far too simple. You can't easily turn features on or off and it lacks trackbacks and customization."

You can read the full post at Yahoo! 360 Rev'wed


"Yahoo! 360 Rev'w" from Michael Schuermann of Blogcritics.org (29 Mar 05)

• "The interface is very well designed. It works smoothly in both Firefox and Internet Explorer, and is very clean."
• "The blogging tool is the centerpiece of the experience, and overall it's pretty nice. The blog entry form is WYSIWYG, which will be a benefit to blogging newbies or others without HTML knowledge. However, there's no spell checker..."
• "I couldn't find any way to customize the "blog" page."
• "...you can also create modules on your page that share your Reviews from Yahoo Local, Photo Albums from Yahoo! Photos, Music from Yahoo! Launchcast, and Lists (which are a feature only within Yahoo! 360. You can also advertise presence information from Yahoo! Messenger, post a picture of yourself, share what Yahoo Groups you belong to, and advertise your friends (within Yahoo!360) and their respective Yahoo!360 pages."
• "RSS is not currently present, but Yahoo does have a blurb advertising this feature as "coming soon", not only for the blog but also for the photos and other content."
• "All in all, I'd say that Yahoo!360 is a nice tool for whom it's targeted for, that being non-technical users and newbies to blogs, etc... The integration of Yahoo's various services is actually very well done, and the layout of the page you create is very nice."

You can read the full post at Yahoo! 360 Rev'w


"Yahoo 360 rev'wed" from Duncan Riley at The Blog Herald (6 Apr 05)

• "I didn’t think there was a worse blogging tool than MSN Spaces until I discovered Yahoo! 360."
• "...Yahoo! provides blogging for those little kiddies that find MSN Spaces to difficult to understand."
• "Virtually no customisable features (whereas at least to you add a few boxes in MSN) , no trackback that I can see, and all you get to add aside from posts is a little blog roll. That being said the brevity of choice is not reflected in a simplicity of navigation, which is absurdly complex for what it does, and needs a lot of work."
• "...it's in beta and has some pretty non-blog related bells and whistles..."
• "Yahoo! 360 honestly? don’t waste your time

You can read the full post at Yahoo 360 rev'wed


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