Royal Dutch airline KLM is allowing people to choose who they might sit next to on a flight by viewing other travelers’ social media profiles via a program called “Meet and Seat.”
The opt-in system will allow interested parties to link their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to their checkin information. The profiles are then displayed for other travelers on the same flight who have also opted in and submitted their information, and seat selections can be made accordingly.
There seems to be a few possible pros and cons:
Pros:
- opt-in — this allows those whom wish not to participate to not be affected in any way
- those who do wish to participate, can, opening the doors to potential business connections
- it’s great for those who may be traveling alone and simply would like someone to socialize with
Cons:
- sometimes things relay differently online than in person, and if the people matched aren’t actually that compatible, it could prove for an awkward flight experience
- potential breaches in privacy — information inadvertently being exposed in ways unintended
- what happens when person A wants to sit with person B, who wants to sit with person C? or what if a woman only wants to sit with other women, etc.
What do you think of the new system? Would you pick your seatmate if given the option?
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Hi Debbie, as I am usually travelling with my family, I wouldn’t need another buddy to sit next to. But it will be great to see beforehand if there are any people on the flight that I know from Facebook. Better than finding out when you walk off the plane that someone you know is also on the plane.
🙂
Marieke
P.S. And I am glad to see the Dutch are showing the way to make flights a more social experience!
Thanks, Marieke! I’m interested to see how well this is embraced, too. Personally, when I travel alone, I like to have that “me” time to read a book, listen to music, etc., so I don’t think I’d opt in, but for those really social people, it’s a neat idea.
So do you think people will put up a fake profile so no one will want to sit next to them and they can have the extra seat? I might.
Haha, yeah, not a bad idea!
Very interesting use of social media. I’m not quite sure what I think of it. I am intrigued. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how well it’s embraced.