The social networking sites created by Google and Yahoo! have thus far been no match for sites such as MySpace and Facebook. But, as we all know, there's more than one way to keep people connected on the web.Before the proliferation of instant messaging and social networking sites, most of us kept in touch by e-mail. It's true that time marches on - and you might be forgiven for thinking that e-mails were heading the way of the handwritten letter. But, with new plans to revamp their e-mail services in response to the challenge posed by social networking sites, Google and Yahoo! are hoping to revitalise the humble e-mail.
Reports suggest that Yahoo! has been working on "Inbox 2.0": an inbox based on what you want to see rather than what people send you with handy new features, like the ability to prioritise e-mails from friends. You may also be able to create a personal profile page on Yahoo! Mail - where birthdays and news about your friends' antics can be updated. Speaking to Saul Hansell at the New York Times, Brad Garlinghouse, head of communication and community products at Yahoo!, said "The exciting part is that a lot of this information already exists on our network, but it's dormant."
Yahoo! Mail and iGoogle already have knowledge on the connections between their users. After all, msot people trawl through their e-mail list for friends when joining a social networking site. Building services using this existing knowledge might just give Yahoo! and Google the much needed edge in the increasingly crowded social media space, as well as allow them to place their new e-mail services on the social networking map.
So will these advances fare better than the social networking options offered by Yahoo! and Google in the past? "This isn't a separate product," Mr. Garlinghouse told the New York Times, adding, "This is an integration that has to be seamless to the user." And, as Joe Kraus, who runs Google's OpenSocial project, told the same newspaper, "It is much easier to extend an existing habit than to create a brand."
Checking your e-mails could become a whole different experience if Yahoo! and Google are successful. In time, you might even find yourself questioning whether it's worth opening the e-mail in your revamped inbox saying that you've been left a message at a separate social networking site.
