Circuit City Plugs Into Social Networking

Electronic retail giant Circuit City has turned on to community building with the launch of its community (link disabled, Circuit City has since gone under but was rescued and revived by Systemax) - complete with forums, photo galleries and blogs (and tagging). The forums are already quite active and give customer service experts a chance to answer questions in a timely manner, creating a rich knowledge base in the following categories:

* Home Entertainment & MP3
* Computers
* Cameras & Camcorders
* Car Electronics
* Gaming
* Movies & Music

NOTE: THE CIRCUIT CITY COMMUNITY NO LONGER EXISTS. WE KEPT THIS BLOG POST UP TO DESCRIBE WHAT CC DID, WE STILL THINK THAT'S VALUABLE.

Sub-forums include Windows Vista, XBox and GPS navigation systems. So far the most popular forums are TV and Home Audio.

With resident blogger Matthew West getting the party started, anyone else can sign up to contribute their own content. No seriously, jump in any time. Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller?

The photo gallery includes a November photo contest (will there be one every month?) as well as a Car Electronics, Black and White Photography and more. I'm not sure why people would want to post pictures of friends and family on this website, but there's a category for that too.

I think this is a great move for Circuit City not only to open up their brand but to allow users to create the content that will translate into tons of long-tail keyword traffic. It also helps Circuit City discover common product problems and support issues. When customers post in the CityCenter rather than third party forums, it makes it much easier for Circuit City to discover needs and respond to customers.

CityCenter runs on Pluck technology.

So go check it out and let me know what you think of this. Is it "YASN" (Yet Another Social Network)? Does this provide value above and beyond other electronic retailers that would make you a loyal CC shopper? Will sparks fly between the newbie gamer and the Guitar Hero? Are you just sick of social media? Talk to us.