Playboy launched its own social network earlier this fall with the name Playboy U. There’s a lot of skepticism about Playboy’s new product because it looks like a half-assed attempt by Playboy to catch up with the new trends on the web. Here is a promotional video created by a Playboy “campus rep”:
The meaning behind Playboy U is apparently a combination of a) U is short for University and b) U hints at the web 2.0 concept of “you” and user-generated content. Playboy U has the tagline “the exclusive college-only social network.” It only allows members with .edu email addresses to register, just like Facebook’s early days. The concept is to have pages for various colleges highlighting upcoming parties, and allowing college students to share photos and hook up. Playboy U is also a front end for recruiting aspiring playmates (I have some doubts about how attractive the lure of the adult entertainment industry will be for college students).
As one of the largest forces in the entertainment industry, Playboy decided to build its social network on the Ning platform. Ning allows anyone to create a customizable social network for free. I’ve used several Ning websites before and I wholeheartedly praise it to be a revolutionary product that lets you create a niched MySpace clone in a matter of minutes. However, its level of customization is not appropriate for the scope of Playboy’s social networking project.
Currently, Playboy U has an amateur-istic design that is embarrassing to look upon. A typical attempt at a “web 2.0″ look that failed. Playboy must have hired one of its “campus reps” to design the website logo and other graphics.
Also, the interface of the front page is all wrong. The top element of the social network is a slideshow of user-uploaded photos. Now, when I first load up Playboy U, I definitely do not get turned on by the website if I am greeted by a photo like this:
The only reason I can’t say anything negative about Playboy U’s business model is because the investment is minimal for Playboy. At most, the monthly costs associated with a Ning social network is under $40 per month, minus any advertising and development that may be going on in the background. That’s why Playboy must have used Ning as a platform because it is a risk-free experiment for them. However, Ning does have limitations for backend customization and it may be the fatal thorn for the longevity of Playboy U.
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