Toyota Introduces "Hybrid" Social Networking

Social networking is a bandwagon; the number of companies that haven't taken a shot at it is decreasing on what seems like a daily basis. But in its newest incarnation, social networking may have become a reliable and fuel-saving bandwagon: Toyota has gotten on board with a redesigned site for the owners of hybrid vehicles. The concept sounds a little iffy. Gregg Benkendorfer, the National Manager of Media Strategy and Digital Marketing for Toyota, gave a formal statement on the subject, however, and reminded skeptics that "Toyota's more than 600,000 hybrid owners are very passionate about their vehicles and the reasons they drive them." He's not exaggerating, either - hybrid owners can be just as "hardcore" as the Viper crowd (in an admittedly different way). Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive members right now. Toyota expects that it will continue to draw users, too: "As more and more people submit their reasons and are added to the site, the site will grow organically." Yet that doesn't mean Toyota's effort at social networking is ideal. According to Techdirt's Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Bookmark murdok: Doug is a staff writer for murdok for the latest eBusiness news.