Bix joins Yahoo!’s social media mix

Posted November 16th, 2006 at 10:00 pm by Bradley Horowitz, VP, Advanced Development

 6 Comments / Filed in: Trends & News

The social media phenomenon is fed by human needs for self-expression, feedback, generosity, and, to some degree, good old-fashioned voyeurism. Today, we add more food to Yahoo!’s social media menu: Bix, a budding social media service that almost anyone can use to create, enter, and judge a contest. If you’re an American Idol fan, think of it as an opportunity to play the role of a Fox producer, a contestant, and Simon Cowell.

Here’s how it works: Bix contests include karaoke, dance, comedy, beauty, photography, and writing. They are either initiated by Bix members or, in some cases, by sponsors. Contest organizers call the shots on criteria and set the deadlines. Interested contestants then scan the roster of active contests for something worthy of their submission. And winners are selected by the largest vote tally.

Bix provides really cool web-based video- and audio-recording tools to make it all easy. All you might need is a webcam or digital video camera. Most computers and webcam come with built-in microphones, or you can plug in an external mic. (After all, what’s lip-synching without the hand-held?)

Social media is a playground for emerging talent. Scanning the site, I found this terrific gender-bender karaoke, some great Ansel Adams wannabes, and a video that exemplified what comedy on the Web should be. I also came across some interesting sponsored contests. GigaOM, the popular tech blog, launched a guest blog contest that promised to publish the winning entry. And in this “other” category, Six Flags Great America asked people to submit their best impersonation of a roller-coaster scream. (If you’re at work, turning down your volume has never been more imperative.)

So how does Bix fit into Yahoo!’s strategy? Bix, which was founded in January, is a young startup — not unlike Flickr, del.icio.us, Upcoming.org, and Jumpcut when we acquired them. All represented emerging social media trends with great potential. Imagine where Bix’s creativity could go once we scale it to over half a billion people worldwide. For example, we’re currently looking into possible synergies with things like Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Video and our entertainment properties.

In the meantime, we’re psyched to welcome Bix founder Mike Speiser and his coworkers to the Yahoo! family. Once the deal closes, Mike, one of the founders of Epinions, will join the Communities, Communications, and Front Doors group as our new vice president of community, driving products like Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! 360°, Yahoo! Photos, and, of course, Bix.

If you need any encouragement to give Bix a try, Mike invites you to enter his contest.

Bradley Horowitz
VP of Product Strategy

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6 Comments Add your own

Balakumar Muthu | November 17th, 2006 at 6:17 am

Flickr, Del.icio.us… now Bix. I think Flickr and del.icio.us can be very well integrated with Bix Social media to network wide array of users.

Bharathi | December 8th, 2006 at 4:04 am

I really can’t understand how Yahoo makes money by buying sites like Bix, Delicious, etc., Ok, these sites get huge amount of traffic. So does Yahoo. I am a shareholder of Yahoo. I personally feel that Yahoo is just throwing money into these acquisitions which doesn’t really generate any revenue for Yahoo.

Qais | December 24th, 2006 at 4:59 am

Definitely, these acquisitions have a purpose since this will increase yahoo! network traffic also spreading Yahoo! sponsored links through UGC sites. With high-traffic you can generate big cash because this means high exposure for brands.

mika | July 20th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

Very good idea, mass-media has made that correctly, I support!

favour | September 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 am

i, will like to join you people thanks

RS | March 17th, 2008 at 9:38 pm

VP of product strategy eh? Perhaps you could explain the fiasco over at Yahoo groups presently? What strategy was it to roll out an incomplete feature with no warning, no user input, and worst, no opt-out option?

What the blazes are you thinking over there, folks?

http://www.ygroupsblog.com/blog/2008/03/13/coming-soon-group-recommendations/

(see comments section, over 400 negative responses in 5 days, several people ready to take user groups elsewhere)

We’ve endured a lot of abuse at Yahoo’s hands in our groups. This one is almost a deal breaker for a lot of folks. The basic notion of surfacing content is fine, but this was just unbelievable to many users. I think you should take a little trip down there and ask them what they were thinking. I can’t believe this is any sort of strategy.

Before you go jumping in and ordering this “synergy” with Bix and YG unless your users get a good look at it first and advise YOU best on how to work it in. We’re sick of Yahoo wrecking Groups under the delusion its somehow being improved. Old song, new chorus: Quit fixing what isn’t broken. These products all have value, but unless you bring them to us the way we want it, you’ll kill your own golden goose. “Groups is NOT MySpace”, to quote one user. Don’t try to make it one.

Yahoo feels like its getting carried away with new properties and all the development activities going on. “Jack of all trades, master of none” is starting to apply. Groups is just one example of a product line that continues, year after year, to miss the mark when it adds features users don’t want or ask for, and removes ones they rely on.

We’ve said all we can say, I think. Will you listen?