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Social networking arrived at the online marketplace with the launch of eBay Neighborhoods, a mixture of eBay's existing content and new features.

2007 may end up as the year of interactivity on the Internet. More destinations have turned to the promise of social networking as a way to reinforce their brands and keep people coming back to the site.

Count eBay among these sites now. Their eBay Neighborhoods have opened to the site's millions of users. Come for the deals, stay for the social.

People have options to draw upon existing eBay services, like listings, eBay Blogs, and eBay Reviews, to populate their profiles. They can upload photos and contribute to dedicated message boards within each Neighborhood.

eBay said they have over 600 Neighborhoods open at launch, spanning a variety of interests. A Star Wars Neighborhood shows off "action photos" of old-school action figures Darth Vader menacing Obi-Wan Kenobi with a lightsaber, while a nearby box has picture links to Star Wars auctions currently in progress.

As a new launch, the Neighborhoods are a little quiet today. The service's debut comes just ahead of eBay's earnings announcement next week. While Neighborhoods won't reduce the sting of a $1.43 billion charge against the bottom line, thanks to the Skype write-off, we think the Neighborhoods have some nice potential for keeping eBay's users around the site a little longer than usual.