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The rumors mills are reporting that Yahoo may launch a new social networking service for college students dubbed "KickStart." Rather than go after the dominance of Facebook, Yahoo appears to trying to create a LinkedIn-style network for recent graduates looking for a fast track to viable employment.
Harrison Hoffman over at CNet, who got a [look a the potential new service][2], seems impressed by what Yahoo has done in trying to offer students a way to present themselves to employers.
Yahoo's idea is three-fold. First, connect students with alumni of their schools who work for the company the student is interested in -- that's the main social networking aspect.
The second portion of KickStart is a usual profile page, but in this case the profile is tweaked to act as an informal resume. The final part of KickStart is the University page, which, as CNet notes, is a bit like a Facebook "network" page.
Not having seen the site I can't really comment, but the concept certainly sounds good -- particularly the idea of connecting graduating students with alumni who want to help them get an in with companies (note to the kids, skills and smarts are part of it, but people you know will open more doors than any degree ever will).
The question is can Yahoo make this work? The company has struggled in the social networking realm (remember [Yahoo 360][1]? Didn't think so.), all of Yahoo's successful social site tend to be acquired (think Flickr and del.icio.us) rather than homegrown.
There is also the chance that this idea will never see the light of day. A Yahoo representative tells CNet:
>We're continually checking the pulse on customer response to potential concepts on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes our research leads to the development of new product offerings, but not all concepts we research are formally developed and rolled out to our larger audience.
[1]: http://360.yahoo.com/login.html?.done=http%3A%2F%2F360.yahoo.com%2F&.src=360
[2]: http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13515_1-9768418-26.html
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