Yahoo Meme
| Company type | Microblogging service |
|---|---|
| Industry | Social media |
| Founded | August 2009 |
| Founder | Yahoo Latin America |
| Defunct | May 25, 2012 |
| Fate | Discontinued |
Area served | Brazil, Spanish-speaking countries, English-speaking countries, China, Indonesia |
| Products | Microblogging platform |
Yahoo! Meme was a microblogging service introduced by Yahoo Latin America in August 2009. Combining elements from both Twitter and Tumblr, it initially launched a Portuguese-language beta aimed at Brazilian users before expanding to audiences speaking Spanish, English, Chinese, and Indonesian.
Concept
The platform allowed users to set up accounts with customizable blogs that mirrored Tumblr’s style. Users could share text, images, videos, and MP3 files, with titles restricted to a maximum of 100 characters. Posts were displayed in chronological order on individual blogs and featured commenting capabilities. Similar to Twitter’s approach, the system used a one-directional follow model, enabling users to view updates from accounts they followed within their feed.
API
In an effort to rival Twitter and Tumblr, Yahoo! developed an API based on the YQL (Yahoo! Query Language) framework, incorporating OAuth for secure authentication. This API facilitated third-party app development and supported Yahoo’s own smartphone-optimized mobile platform.
Comparisons with social media
While focusing on core microblogging functions, Meme distinguished itself from Twitter and Tumblr by omitting direct messaging and reply options. It permitted text posts up to 2000 characters, exceeding Twitter’s 140-character restriction. The layout of the post feed resembled Tumblr’s stacked cascading format.
A distinctive aspect was the repost feature, which required users to repost content before commenting. This mechanism aided in uncovering new content sources and enabled users to curate streams composed of material from various origins.
Discontinuation
Yahoo! maintained a low profile regarding Meme’s development. Despite promotional efforts in large markets, user growth remained limited. Entering an already crowded social media landscape, Meme failed to present compelling innovation, as noted by TechCrunch. Its unclear naming also posed branding difficulties. Yahoo! declared the termination of Meme on March 26, 2012, with service ending May 25, 2012. The brief domain me.me was relinquished back to the .me registry and subsequently transformed into a meme-focused search engine.