The Yodel Anecdotal site, debuting as “yet another self-serving corporate blog,” will offer an inside look at life within Yahoo.
Yahoo’s newest member of its corporate blogging lineup, Yodel Anecdotal, launched yesterday with a greeting from editor Nikki Dugan. She described what they wish to accomplish with the blog:
We want to share insights into our company, our people, our culture, and the things that occupy our cluttered minds. We’ll cover emerging trends, provide some behind-the-scenes commentary, profile interesting Yahoos, spotlight our beloved users, reveal some of our quirks, tap into guest bloggers, sprinkle in some videos and photo essays, and generally think out loud (lucky you you get to listen). You’ll hear from interns to executives. Some days we’ll be light and airy, others we’ll get serious.
It’s an approach Google has used for quite a while on the Official Google Blog. Google has ranged from discussing its involvement in litigation against it to announcing Pearl Jam videos hosted on Google Video.
Yahoo’s development of Yodel definitely sets it apart from Google’s official lighthouse on the craggy coastline of the blogosphere. Where Google has stuck with its minimalist design approach, Yahoo goes straight for the optic nerve.
Orange and purple colors have a brilliant presence on the blog. Fortunately the developers have sensibly placed the blog text on a white background. Thumbnails of images of Yahoo life hosted on its Flickr photo-sharing service appear in a sidebar, as do downloadable screensavers and wallpaper with a Yahoo theme.
For visitors with eight and a half minutes to spare, the Yodel blog has a video tour of life inside Yahoo. Company founders David Filo and Jerry Yang make an appearance during the whimsical look at work and play within Yahoo’s Sunnyvale campus.
One significant difference between Yahoo’s new corporate blog and Google’s is the ability to leave comments about posts on Yodel. Google has them turned off; Yahoo can really differentiate itself if the company chooses to engage commenters who visit the site.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
