Hi Everyone,

Here’s the latest news on the transition from your 360 page to your new profile on Yahoo!: It will be taking place sometime in the second half of 2008. We don’t have specifics on the date to share just yet, but you’ll be among the first to know. For now just keep this in mind: 2^nd half ’08.

I know you get a lot out of 360, and that there’s a good chance you’ve used it to deepen friendships and extend connections near and far. So, I completely understand that you might not exactly be “chomping at the bit” for the shift to the new system (i.e., that you might be dreading it on some level).

Well let me first say that it’s truly Yahoo!’s honor to offer a service you rely on to fulfill those requirements—keeping your friendships vibrant and even building new connections. Yahoo!’s promise to you is we absolutely won’t let that drop!

In fact, our upcoming (currently occurring) shift is based on these same core principles, but expands them across the entire Yahoo! network—so you can share your interests and activity with your community, and discover new content and experiences from your trusted friends. The approach gets a good description in the following articles and blog posts:

Hi Everyone,

I want to share with you some news from Vietnam. Yahoo! unveiled several Vietnam-centric initiatives as part of our Southeast Asia business strategy. One of these initiatives is called 360plus - A new Vietnamese blogging application.

Just to be clear, the 360plus product is specific to the Vietnamese market and it is not the new universal profile that we have mentioned previously in this blog. So, while 360 is transitioning to the new profile for users worldwide, the 360 name will live on in a different product in Vietnam.

On a related note, many of you have asked for an update on the new profile. We are working on an update and will post it to this blog this week.

So, goodbye for now -- or as they say in Vietnam, tạm biệt!

Matt Warburton
Yahoo! Community Manager

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a few months since you heard from me. We thought it was time to let you in on recent developments. As I mentioned in my last post, the team is working hard to develop the new universal profile system, with full blogging capabilities. You will be hearing more from me on the new profile in future posts.

Many of you have expressed concerns about the future of your blog content – both your posts and your comments. As I mentioned in my last post, we will migrate all of your blog posts and comments into the new profile. We’re committed to providing a rich blogging experience and hope that you keep your blog on your new profile. But we understand that you may want the flexibility of using an alternative blogging platform. Yahoo! will offer the ability to export your blog posts and comments in a format that can be imported into other blogging tools. As long as the blogging tool has an import function, you should be able to transfer your posts and comments to it.

We will provide more details on the export process as we get closer to the launch of the universal profile.

Thank you for all the comments. Keep ‘em coming.

Matt Warburton
Yahoo! Community Manager

Hi Everyone,

My last post regarding the future of Yahoo! 360° generated a lot of questions and comments and we've read them all. Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. While we can’t respond to all the comments, we will address common questions and recurring themes in future blog posts.

Last week I also spoke with a handful of passionate 360° users. I wanted to hear firsthand the reaction to the news, as well as understand the questions that need clarification. Several of these folks blogged about our conversation:

Carl:
Yes Virginia, 360 is Closing...However...

MY360MI:
The boss's blog [re Matt's phone call] blog [re Matt's phone call]

Mister E:
My conversation with Matt Warburton

After reading the comments and talking to the 360° users, we put together a list of the frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Q: Why are you transitioning 360? We love it the way it is.
A: Yahoo! is building a universal profile system to provide a more integrated experience. We currently have many different profiles for different Yahoo! products. Our goal is to centralize as many of these as possible into one common profile.

Q: Will the new profile platform have blogs?
A: Yes, the new platform will have blogging features. We'll provide a way for you to move all your existing blog content to the new platform.

Q: My existing 360° information is very important to me. Will there be a way to migrate all my information, blog posts, friends, etc. to the new profile platform?
A: Yes. We will preserve your Yahoo! 360 blog content, profile photo, nickname, and friends lists during and after the transition. You'll have a way to back up your information as well as a tool to migrate your information into the new profile service.

Q: Will any of the existing 360° features be taken away before the transition?
A: No.

Q: Will the bugs be fixed on 360°?
A: No, we will no longer be fixing bugs related to 360°. We are putting all of our resources on building the new profile system.

Q: What is Mash?
A: Mash is an experimental profile service currently in an invite-only beta phase. It provides users with enhanced interaction. Friends can edit each others’ profiles (if they allow it) and users can add modules to express their personality and interests.

Q: Will the new profile service be Mash?
A: The universal profile will not be Mash -- at least not the Mash that you see today. The new profile is likely to share the same platform as Mash, which means that we can provide you with greater flexibility than you currently have on 360°.

We'll provide updates on the new profile service here on the blog. But, there's lots of work to be done, and most likely we will not have additional details in the near future. We will keep you apprised over the next several months

We value our 360° users and our goal is to build a new profile and blogging solution that will delight all of you. I encourage all of you to continue providing comments and asking questions.

Matt Warburton
Yahoo! Community Manager