"We wanted to ensure that the INTERNS program was not only entertaining but also relevant to this target demographic, which will drive students to engage with Playboy via their mobile phones," said Lisa Kolodny, Head of Youth Marketing, Playboy Enterprises, Inc.

Playboy seems to be struggling with an online strategy. They have tried jumping into bed with YouTube and let’s not forget the Ning social network, PlayboyU. Playboy does appear to be cross-promoting Interns with PlayboyU which is smart.

One day they will realize the power of the magazine in an online world.

We wrote about PlayboyU, the social network that allows students to post non-nude photos and interact with each other around partying. Checking PlayboyU today, it seems they are experiencing a good growth rate in users.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Christie Hefner said, "Looking ahead, our strategy is to grow the company leveraging both the ‘high tech’ and ‘high touch’ attributes of the Playboy brand. In the media businesses, our first goal is to return our online and mobile properties to strong growth drivers. These efforts will entail investments in technology, marketing and content, which should begin to show results by the end of the year."

While monetization of PlayboyU appears to come in the form of advertising for Playboy DVDs, would a free ad-supported model work for the Playboy.com Web site? Maybe a combination? Currently most of the photos and videos are behind a (very expensive) pay wall.

Same features as the other Ning networks and same as all of the other social networks already out there. I guess they forgot one important thing. No one worries about opening Facebook in a classroom. Can you imagine the one dork who opens PlayboyU in the middle of a chem class? Yea, that will go over well. I am sure it will be big in the frats.

How long before nude photos are posted? I start the bidding at 1 week. Want a real Playboy social network? Take every living playmate, give them an account, let people friend them, and get updates, events, Twitters, daily photos on sms, etc. That would most likely work.