Edmunds.com, the automobile information service, has not been timid in its foray into new media. With the launch of CarSpace, the company has embraced the ideas of social networking and consumer generated media in a big way.

If you figure that’s a natural step for a company with a dot-com in its name, don’t be fooled. Edmunds has been around since 1966, back when computers filled entire rooms. Manual typewriters and carbon paper were the height of office technology.

CarSpace is primarily a place for people who care about cars to get together and share their interests. Everyone who registers gets their own page (not unlike MySpace but more structured) featuring the cars they own or lease, auto-related feeds, photo albums, favorite links, and listings of recent posts to Edmunds.com’s InsideLine message board. You can link yourself to “friends”—other CarSpace users—based on common interests. Users are also automatically bundled into groups based on the kinds of cars they own.

“Our vision for CarSpace is that everyone interested in automobiles and the Internet will link together and share photos, opinions and information about their favorite cars through this dynamic new medium,” according to Sylvia Marino, senior director of CarSpace (quoted from a press release.

The site also features four blogs—“The Driving Women” (by Edmunds.com’s female editors), “Karl on Cars” (by Editor-in-Chief Karl Bauer), “Straightline” (touted as the ultimate car enthusiast blog) and “Strategies for Smart Car Buyers.” Commenting allows members to participate.

Members also get an @carspace.com email account with 50 MB of storage.

Cars represent a no-brainer theme for social networking, even though (as the press release points out) generic social networking sites like MySpace and Friendster don’t provide the kind of focus CarSpace does. Well over 1,000 auto enthusiasts have already registered on the site, which was announced only yesterday, which speaks to the interest people have in networking with others who share their interests.

The site initially is supported by banner ads, with Honda participating as the first advertiser. “Ultimately there’s a lot of opportunity in social networking to get into more unique marketing opportunities,” said Mitch Kumin, Edmunds.com’s media dcirector, in a ClickZ News interview. “Some of that is letting marketers connect with users who have similar interests and speaking with them in the kind of environment they like interacting with.”

There are, of course, other themes that could be served by a social networking site, meaning there’s opportunity for brands that want to be associated with such a site. Gadgets, cooking, gardening…it’s easy to find categories with enough enthusiasts to support a community. Then there are the existing communities, such as professional associations. The one to which I belong—IABC—boasts 14,000 members. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could create my profile page on the IABC site, list my interests, and find other members who share those interests so we can form a micro-community?

Congratulations to Edmunds.com for taking a step others can follow. Social networking has a place in business.

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