This image was lost some time after publication.

Yahoo has launched, in an invitation-only trial, MyM, a "social messaging" service. How many social networks does one company need? Nowhere are Yahoo's scattershot efforts more evident than in this field. On top of Yahoo Mash, Yahoo 360, Del.icio.us, Flickr, and — if you believe Yahoo president Sue Decker — Yahoo Mail, you can now add MyM to the list.

From what we've heard, MyM sounds a lot like Meebo, the website which allows users to access multiple instant-messaging clients at once. MyM will actually hook into Meebo, as well as Friendster, MySpace, LiveJournal, AIM, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo's own IM software. Internally at Yahoo, MyM's already been dubbed "awkward," and some are worried that competitors will block it.

I'd say those concerns are typical of Yahoo these days — suggest something new, and people come up with reasons why you can't do it, rather than fixes for those problems. Awkward or not, it's to these Yahoos' credit that they actually managed to launch something against internal opposition. We're still skeptical that Yahoo needs yet another social service, but we're intrigued all the same. Anyone got an invite? Send it in.