Monday, January 30, 2012

Profiling your seat mate


Some restaurants and stores have a free bi-weekly paper called The Laughable News. It is one legal size sheet of paper with amusing stories and puzzles on both sides with local advertising in the sidebars.  This story is the lead story and made Bill and I shake our heads and then smile at the final comment. KLM's partnership with Facebook is true by the way, this isn't a joke.

Facebook Before You Fly - Creepy or Cool?

KLM has really adopted the idea of social media like no other airline. In a surprise move, KLM passengers will soon be able to pick who they want to sit next to by viewing their Facebook profile.

The pilot program is being praised for those people who are sick of being stuck next to crying babies or odd passengers - or for those simply looking for mile-high love.

The airline announced its plans to start a "meet and seat" service this year that will link travelers' Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to their check-in information.

Of course, you can see the trouble already. A beautiful lady pickers her seat as 3C, avoiding the creepy dude in 9D. But after she books, along comes an "extra creepy" dude who can't believe his luck. He books himself into 3B. So does the lady in 3C get to monitor who books after her? If so, she'll quickly dodge a bullet and move to 17A. But lets face it, she won't be safe...another creepy dude will just pop into her world.

So what options are there? Will KLM only seat "Friends" next to you? Well, unless you constantly drag a group of your best friends along, it seems unlikely. Another option would be to let you "block" all passengers you view as "creepy", not allowing them to see your profile, or sit next to you.

I can see it now. Soon the whole plane will be a sea of anonymous users, because no one will want other people stalking them. You'll roll the dice, pick a seat, and you'll find yourself stuck next to that crying baby.

5 comments:

SkippyMom said...

Definitely a reason to NEVER fly KLM airlines.

Wow that is just creepy.

Sewconsult said...

Sounds like a digital version of leap frog! Never flown KLM, but on one of my USAir flights, I was seated by a gentleman who was quite nice. (I really prefer flying with hubby.) I had a new paperback book in my hand to read. He saw it and went on to tell me that it was his favorite book and he reread a part of it every night. I won't say the name of the book, but it was very popular several years ago. (You or your readers might have liked it.) After I read half of the book, I thought about the man who sat beside me. I wouldn't read any more. Who in their right mind would agree with the writer or find it inspiring. I wish that I could afford to sit in first class and not squeezed in with some stranger.

Blondie's Journal said...

I have sat next to some real gems! As long as they aren't rude and don't snore or smell bad, I'm okay.

XO,
Jane

Chatty Crone said...

I had not heard of this - but that is totally creepy. I don't or can't imagine me flying much more - but I think I'd take a crying baby! lol sandie

Anonymous said...

Hi Knitty, thank you for your visit. It has been a very busy month for me.
About your post, I had not heard that but nothing would surprise me any more. LOL It just gives me another reason not to want to ever fly. I hope you and your family are well. I think we have lucked out this winter but I can't help but think what summer will be like :>)