Yahoo Kickstart launches for College Students

By: Sara Smith
Staff Writer
Published: Nov 6, 2007

Kickstart is a new social network which Yahoo targets students and recruiters.

Yahoo says its Kickstart social network will actively allow users to create a professional profile, browse through company profiles and network with their peers, professors, alumni and potential employers.

The portal company said that Kickstart is no Facebook or just connecting with friends, but more appropriate for fun. After listening to many students who expressed frustration that Facebook was allowing the wrong targeted crowd into their profiles, Yahoo launched the Kickstart network with students in mind.

Kickstart found the niche between LinkedIn and Facebook, as LinkedIn doesn't really appeal to college students and Facebook is fun-oriented. Yahoo says Kickstart is somewhere in the middle and will provide professionals connecting opportunities, while it will refrain from being as uptight as LinkedIn.

Yahoo says it will donate $25,000 to the university that signs up the most alumni. However, the portal giant warns that Kickstart is at a very early stage and may lack a lot of features which are already being addressed. Users are sincerely encouraged to test-drive Kickstart and suggest improvements.

The modern world has reached the new generation of social networking and more companies seem to adopt the online idea to connect everyone from friends to professional opportunities. Google announced their OpenSocial standard which generously provides social website owners to use their gadgets through API development.