Who are the people in your neighborhood? In your eBay Neighborhood that is. The world’s most recognized online auction has finally decided to dip it’s toes into the field of social networking. Although this move by eBay may seem a little late to most, the new offering is already receiving mildly positive reviews before the official launch which is scheduled for today.
The new eBay social network is intended to help as part of a rejuvenated strategy as the San Jose-based multi national e-commerce company looks to kick start growth again after recent declines. A quote from eBay:
“a collection of micro-communities built around common interests and passions …, eBay Neighborhoods draws content from existing community features such as eBay listings, eBay Blogs, eBay Guides, and eBay Reviews, while adding new Neighborhood-specific message boards, member-uploaded photos, and social mapping tools to visualize the interconnections between people and their common interests.”
It’s interesting to note the recent criticism that eBay has received. Being recognized as a pioneer in the world of e-commerce has not been enough to stem this negative feedback from customers who are particularly concerned with the depth of content on the auction site. Shoppers are finding the site to hard to navigate as a result and are demonstrating their frustration with their mouses choosing to use other online stores such as Overstock and Amazon.
A sneak peak at eBay’s growing list of plans for improvement indicates that the neighborhoods feature will not be the only tactic that eBay look to leverage as we move closer to the holiday season.
Do you think eBay can resurrect their growth of the past with these new Web 2.0 style tactics?
