Rideroom.com - SN and Motor Vehicles

The social networking space has a few niche players for car and motorcycle enthusiasts some of them being carspace.com, showoffcars.com, and carster.com. But I recently got a chance to ask the founder of RideRoom.com, Tim Gostovic, some questions about his car social networking site.

Q. Why did you decide to start Rideroom.com?

A. “I came up with idea after browsing one of the larger sites in the
automotive SN niche for a while and being unsatisfied with the look/feel
of the site and the options it offered. I thought I could create
something that was easier to navigate, looked better and offered a little
more structure in certain areas. I didn’t notice any significant
competition in this niche so I thought it was ripe for a new, fresh site.”

……

Q. What makes Rideroom different then the other car SN sites?

“One of the big things that I believe Rideroom does better then the
other sites in this niche is the profile interface. The interface
consists of a tabbed interface and a lot of Javascript and AJAX code to
make browsing through pictures, videos, comments and information very
quick and seamless. You can load up a video and browse through all the
informational tabs or comments without having to reload the entire page
with each click which makes for a fast, efficient and generally more
enjoyable browsing experience.

Members can also enter information about their cars in a free-form format
rather then choosing car modifications/parts from a drop-down list that
would never be truly current with the latest products available.

Another thing that makes Rideroom stand out is the ability to showcase
motorcycles. Just about all the competing sites focus solely on
cars/trucks. I feel that is a pretty big plus for the site.”

Q. What are your goals for Rideroom?

“My goals for Rideroom probably differ slightly from that of other SN
sites. Obviously the #1 goal is to build up the user base since without
that the other goals simply won’t happen. That said, with the growth of
the user base I would like the site to retain a community feel if
possible. I think the forums and the “what members are talking about”
area on the home page will help in that respect since they may get members
talking to people they otherwise wouldn’t notice.

I would also like to expand the site. Perhaps add articles, reviews and
things of that nature to create an automotive portal of sorts with a SN
core.”

Q. Why should car enthuisiasts join Rideroom?

People who enjoy cars, trucks or motorcycles should join Rideroom to show
off pictures of their rides on a site that is easy and quick to browse
with fast loading profiles. They should join if they would like to
showcase videos of their rides, comment on the latest automotive news and
participate in a general automotive forum.

Another reason to join is Rideroom is that it is one of the few sites
where you are able to showcase your motorcycle alongside your car or
truck.

I had the chance to take an inside look at Rideroom along with some of the other car SN sites. While having a smaller membership base then some of the others, I agree with Tim that Rideroom has a better interface and offers more features. I wish Tim the best of luck.
[tags]Social Networking, Social Network, Vertical Social Network, Rideroom, Cars, Brian Balfour[/tags]