Yahoo! jumps on CGM bandwagon ... or is it shark?

You may have read that Yahoo! has launched a new home page, thus committing to the digital trash bin one of the longest lasting user interfaces on the Web. Well, now the portal is asking consumers to create videos explaining why the new home page is so damn wonderful. (Here's the link to the contest.) Hopefully, this will result in more creativity than a similar contest sponsored by Mozilla Firefox earlier this year, which, last time we checked, was about as entertaining as watching paint dry. To get potential participants motivated, the company already let students from some prominent film schools have at this marketing challenge—the frame above is from a film produced by a student at the London Film Academy. Still, even though Yahoo! fans probably have the kind of affection which makes consumer generated media work, is it time to ask whether CGM has jumped the shark?

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

July 18, 2006 | Permalink