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Yahoo! Yodel Anecdotal and Paul Stamatiou :: Score! Big Time

Yahoo! and intern Paul Stamatiou unveil Yahoo!’s new official corporate blog – Yodel Anecdotal.

Paul descibes the new blog as:

It’s what Yahoo! is all about – the culture, the traditions and some dabbling of current hot topics in the general tech realm. You don’t have to be a Computational Media major at a top 10 public university to understand what’s going on. User interaction is encouraged on Yodel Anecdotal.

…Yodel Anecdotal is not the type of blog you visit to check if there’s a new API for that JavaScript library you so dearly love nor is it the kind of blog you go to get info on the company’s earnings reports. It’s what Yahoo! is all about – the culture…

Please note that we’re talking about Yahoo! – a corporate giant – giving this kind of responsibility (and opportunity) to an intern. I think that’s amazing, admirable and to be saluted. Now, Paul doesn’t seem like your average intern, so that may play into this a bit. But, the willingness of a company like Yahoo! to offer this to an intern just blows my mind. Yahoo! has won me over in yet another area.

Sounds like a good idea for a corporate blog, too. Looking forward to reading this one.

Paul’s work (and his group) is quite impressive. Congrats!

A little side story is the choice of the blogging platform used for Yahoo’s corporate blog. MovableType’s ProNet discussion group – mostly developers – are a little bummed that WordPress was chosen. But, the unique aspect is that Yahoo! let the intern go with a platform he felt comfortable with – instead of one that was suggested (but not demanded) by IT. I think that’s commendable. Also, Yahoo! offers hosting for both platforms. So, either platform would be fine for the blog.

Is it a coup for WordPress? Sure. WordPress is now the platform of the Official Yahoo! corporate blog. That’s pretty cool. But, both platforms have gained from acceptance and adoption by Yahoo! over recent years. See Yahoo! Web Hosting and WordPress.

I do think that WordPress is continuing to erode Movable Type’s market share and if I were Six Apart, I’d be worried. Even the latest version of Movable Type 3.3 is encountering problems. The rebuild function of Movable Type makes it a “clunkier” platform than WordPress, in some/many instances. We’ll see how Movable Type’s viability plays out in the future.

Links:

The blog and discussion:
Introducing Yodel Anecdotal – PaulStamatiou.com
Yodel Anecdotal
About Yodel Anecdotal
Yet another self-serving corporate blog!

Discussion about the blogging platform chosen (WordPress):
Photo Matt » Yodel Anecdotal
http://www.sixapart.com/mailman/private/pronet/ – Discussion at ProNet (registration required)

Two Reviews:
IMlog: Corporate blog: Yahoo! vs Google 1 – 0
Yahoo Yodels With New Blog

2 comments

  1. It’s great to see Paul Stamatiou getting that responsibility. Heaven knows he’s helped out plenty of folks along the way. I know I’ve leaned heavily on his K2 tutorials, and I’m betting betting of good things from Yodel Anecdotal.

  2. Agreed. Paul’s not the average intern. He has proven his abilities, that’s for sure. And, at age 20, he seems to be on a fast track. After all, he’s a Tech student. So, I’m not surprised. I bet the faculty and his fellow students at Ga. Tech are thrilled for him, too.

    As for the blog, they do seem to have a good idea going there. The use of audio and video seems to be (at least in the first few posts) something they are going to use often. That’s good to see,

    Give it a few weeks and we’ll see if they are trending toward something truly remarkable. I’m wishing them well.