smart usa Launches Social Network...

...and no you can't join. Rats! Awhile ago smart usa hinted to loyal fans that it would be starting up a bulletin board. Today smart usa sent out an e-mail to select smart enthusiasts that its social networking site was entering into a beta phase and invited recipients to sign up and test out the board.

The above snapshot which was taken from the website http://www.smartusainsider.com/ certainly doesn't look all that official. However, those who have been allowed access do confirm that it is indeed a site about and for smart cars. According to user "spdickey" at smart car of america forums the board has "Only about 40 or so members, guess they are working out the BBS kinks before they go live."

In the official e-mail sent out to beta testers, the intent behind smartusainsider is described in the paragraph below:

"http://www.smartusainsider.com/ was designed to help smart enthusiasts stay connected to each other and the smart brand, and will compliment information provided on our corporate website – http://www.smartusa.com/. http://www.smartusainsider.com/ offers smart enthusiasts many social networking features, including starting and posting to message boards, forming local groups, uploading video and photos, creating your own smart page, blog and building your network of smart USA Insider friends. "

For the curious out there, if you try to register at the smartusainsider and did not receive an invitation, you'll be greeted with the following message: "This email address is not approved for the limited beta." So for now, we'll just have to follow the action from the sidelines.

For those out there who are not smart enthusiasts, this hardly seems newsworthy. However, I believe that an official bulletin board setup by a manufacturer/distributor is a fairly rare bird. I'm trying to think of anyone else who does this and honestly at 10PM and with a glass of wine in hand I can't think of anyone. It seems like a great way to reach out, but could also be a way to get your hand bitten. Although the boards will be monitored, there is certainly no stopping an uprising against your product and should any technical advice/mods be discussed on the board, I don't know if any amount of legalize could completely cover you should anything go asunder.

I look forward to taking the site for a test drive.