Yahoo Launches Social Network — In India

Spotm

Yahoo India announced that it has launched yet another social network for the 16-24 age bracket in an attempt to capture the growing market in India. And although scant details are available, it sounds interesting.

Dubbed SpotM, the new social network will bring college-aged and those close to going to college together in one space. There’s no word on how Yahoo will be able to ensure everyone using the service is really as old as they claim, but Yahoo believes it can manage that problem.

SpotM attempts to differentiate itself by offering two features: the idea of a secret friend and SMS integration with anonymous chat. According to Yahoo, SpotM will allow users to make friends with other users and if they choose, make those friends private so other users don’t know about the relationship. SMS integration with anonymous chat will let users correspond via SMS without revealing their phone number.

It’s nice to see Yahoo try something new, but whether or not its privacy initiatives will really work in its favor remains in doubt. As social networks become more popular, it’s transparency that parenting groups are looking for, not privacy. And once those issues arise, every social network buckles under the pressure. Will Yahoo be any different?

SpotM is currently in private beta.