The Auto Log: Social Networking for Your Car

There's a social network for everyone. I've seen social networks about food, social networks for charity and social causes, social networks for your pets, and even social networks dedicated to making your wildest dreams come true. The Auto Log is a social network for your car. You can create a profile for your car, upload photos of it, and customize a horrible background just like on MySpace. Your car can even make friends and compete in "challenges" where it goes head-to-head, virtually, with other cars on the site.

While The Auto Log allows you to meet people, find auto clubs, and connect with car lovers and modders, you can also use the service to keep track of the work and maintenance done to your vehicle, build your auto stats, and keep a personal history of the work you've done to your car.







The Auto Log claims to be the premier social network for car owners and lovers, and given the sheer number of subscribers, that's probably true. You can create a profile for your car complete with the details you'd expect, including its age, make and model; an About Me section; a list of friends; and even comments and flashing animated GIFs to decorate the page. (Nothing's more disconcerting than reading the profile of someone who drives a 1999 Ford F-150 truck and seeing an animated GIF of the characters from "Winnie the Pooh," with "I love my friends" flashing in pink type underneath it.



Each profile gets a custom URL; even though it might look like and average social-network profile, you can update it with your mileage, after-market upgrades and modifications, and additional comments about your vehicle. The beauty behind the scene at The Auto Log is that each profile contains a wealth of information about all the cars featured on the site.You could easily create a detailed vehicle history for your car, including all the work you've had done and when, what modifications you've made, and even routine maintenance.



The Auto Log isn't just for car modders and sports-car enthusiasts: I found profiles of everyday passenger cars, minivans, and motorcycles. Each day the site's editors choose a profile to feature on the front page, and periodically they create challenges between two different cars on the site and allow the entire Auto Log community to vote for a winner. I was particularly amused by a challenge between two RVs.

While The Auto Log's primary purpose is definitely to be a social network, and while it's definitely modeled after MySpace (a bit too much for my taste), it has a lot of potential as a diary for your car. Add this to the robust and active community, and you have a social network that's more fun than most. If you're a car lover, and even if you just love your minivan, you'll be at home at Auto Log, and you'll be able to find people who love their minivans as much as you do.