Edmunds.com Can Provide Commentary on Keeping Online Communities Safe With Its Near Ten-Year Experience with Town Hall Forums and Launch of New Social Networking Site, CarSpace

Business Wire, March 3, 2006

WHO:     Sylvia Marino, Senior Director of CarSpace, can discuss how
         Edmunds.com has kept its forums in place and what its doing
         to keep its new social networking site, CarSpace, safe.

CONTACT: To speak with Sylvia or to learn more, please contact Chintan
         Talati or Jeannine Fallon at 310-309-4900  or e-mail
         pr@edmunds.com

Recent media coverage on online communities and social networking Web sites has painted a scary picture of a world teeming with sexual predators and risque graphics. Some high schools are going so far as to warn parents about their teens' activity on these sites. One media outlet described, "The letter (that came from the high school) said `inappropriate' photos and comments had been posted on the site. It went on to warn of the dangers of Internet predators, as well as the possibility that college admissions officers or potential employers could view kids' profiles."

Can online communities be safe for kids, and also pleasant for adults seeking family-friendly content?

There is a success story to be told, and a role model for online communities to follow. The Edmunds.com's Town Hall Forums have been "clean" since their inception nearly ten years ago, thanks to paid moderators and an online community that polices itself.

"It's the `broken windows' theory -- people who live in neighborhoods with broken windows may not think twice about adding to the mess, but those who live in well-kept neighborhoods are unlikely to park their cars on their lawns and such, and if they do, their neighbors will complain," explains Sylvia Marino, who created the Forums for Edmunds.com and is now senior product director for CarSpace, Edmunds.com's new social networking Web site for anyone with an interest in automobiles.