Air travel and social media are clearly made for each other. It’s not just about Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and YouTube channels. Airlines like Virgin Atlantic are doing ground-breaking work around chat rooms, multiplayer games, e-mail, SMS, and integration with mobile devices on their inflight systems. But most of these developments are focused on bringing existing third-party technology into the air. It’s time for airlines to start fostering social networks of their own, bringing together like-minded transumers and cutting-edge technology. Here are some ideas for how airlines can create new, more targeted social applications for in-flight systems:
Wiki-Seating
A Web-based pre-flight discussion board can help customers connect at the very beginning of the journey cycle. Giving passengers the option of sharing their travel plans, interests and destinations before the flight could help users build their own “wiki-seating plan” together. Business travellers could choose to sit next to fellow attendees of a particular conference. Backpackers could find like-minded travellers to explore with.
Itinerary-sharing sites like vtravelled and social applications like Dopplr are already allowing passengers to connect and share information. But why should airlines concede this ground to outside parties (or in vtravelled’s case, leave the network itself on the ground)? Consider the long-term branding power of your customized application being responsible for a new pair of travel buddies, business partners or even close friends.
Social Embodiment In Flight
Enabling passengers to access Twitter from their seats is a great start. But why not construct your own inflight social network? I’m not just talking about seat-to-seat chat. That’s so AIM; this is the Facebook era. Passengers could volunteer biographical information that can be used to generate relevant social statistics. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that “14 people on this plane are flying for the first time,” or that “there are seven Spanish speakers on this flight”? A sophisticated social interface could allow passengers to customize their privacy settings, allowing more discreet passengers to participate in conversation threads without feeling vulnerable.
This type of content could also be a key marketing point, as statistics could present brand-specific information (i.e. “64 percent of the people on this plane booked their flight through Cheaptickets.com” or “59 people on this plane are staying at Holiday Inn”). If Facebook has taught us anything, it’s that people are happy to share personal information – with both people and brands – so long as they get something in return. That something could be a new best friend, an interesting bit of trivia or a great last-minute deal at a local spa.
Completing the Journey Cycle
The socializing doesn’t have to stop at the terminal. Your inflight system can help passengers coordinate their plans upon arrival. An interactive map of the destination city could allow passengers to pinpoint their hotels or conference centers – and figure out the best way to get there. The system could easily suggest social groups who might benefit from sharing a taxi, helping each other find a connecting flight, or sharing a drink during the layover. By providing these services inflight, you can keep passengers off their PDAs and engaged with your brand and partners throughout the journey.
It’s great to see airlines embracing social media. But it’s time to realize that your airplanes are social media with the ability to convert strangers into travel mates and frequent flyers into loyal customers. With a scientific approach to product design, you can turn your inflight system into a Transumer gateway. The key to real aircraft connectivity is right in front of your nose – or rather, in the back of your seat.
While some business travelers were incredibly disappointed they woud no longer be getting ‘work breaks’ while in flight due to the internet being accesible in air (boo hoo) – I am incredibly on board with this idea.
I’ve read about people who marry after meeting on flights, I’ve seen friends evolve from it and I personally have met many fellow backpackers aboard flights. I think there has always been a strong social component to traveling and its about time the aviation industry take advantage of it.
About time, some one came up with ideas that will make travelling fun again rather than the ennui it has become with endless waiting for nothing.
Who knows, the passengers may even pay for some of this and make it a source of revenue.
Considering all the solo trips I have done this would certainly allow me to ‘socialize’, even if the person next to me doesn’t seem to interesting.
What sounds most appealing is the destination/trip plans idea. As you mentioned this would be great for backpackers who are all heading to the same destination. Just think of all the new college grads who would want to enlarge their party group on their Eurotrip! As also mentioned the value doesn’t stop there, for travellers on their way to a conference, or turning that social network into a business network.
Good Insight!
You can also apply these ideas to hotels and cruise ships. Knowing who in the hotel wants to go siteseeing, party, or works for a company I can do business with etc could open up the door for great networking.
New blog post @Sparksheet : http://bit.ly/mXzMH A user experience designer’s vision for more social inflight systems
RT: @jayvidyarthi @Sparksheet : http://bit.ly/mXzMH A user experience designer’s vision for more social inflight systems <– excellent ideas
RT: @murtmalik @jayvidyarthi @Sparksheet : http://bit.ly/mXzMH A user experience designer’s vision for more social inflight systems
nice ideas to airlines @Sparksheet – Above and Beyond: Airplanes ARE social media – http://tinyurl.com/lsl5t3
Above and Beyond: Airplanes ARE social media http://tinyurl.com/lsl5t3 @Sparksheet
Airplanes are Social Media http://bit.ly/mXzMH (via @IDSA) [This is either the best idea ever or my worst nightmare. Not sure which.]
RT @micberryman: Airplanes are Social Media http://bit.ly/mXzMH [This is either the best idea ever or my worst nightmare. Not sure which.]
[…] works well for seatback systems with connectivity. But if people can roam the web freely on their laptops, how do airlines and […]
[…] These are plans for that down the road. But right now our WiFi is not connected to RED. When it is, we’ll probably start off with something nice and easy like the ability to connect to your Twitter account through the system. Eventually, we’ll be able to feed passengers information on connecting flights and all that stuff. But that’s more like a RED 6.0 idea! […]
Airplanes ARE Social Media: Interaction Design In Flight- by @jayvidyarthi
http://bit.ly/4FZw3O
RT @UXalliance: Airplanes ARE Social Media: Interaction Design In Flight- by @jayvidyarthi
http://bit.ly/4FZw3O
@marloespomp 🙂 check ook http://bit.ly/4FZw3O 'airplanes ARE social media' #KLM kan een whole new social experience worden!
RT @raymondlunes: @marloespomp 🙂 check ook http://bit.ly/4FZw3O 'airplanes ARE social media' #KLM kan een whole new social experience w …
RT @raymondlunes: @marloespomp 🙂 check ook http://bit.ly/4FZw3O 'airplanes ARE social media' #KLM … http://bit.ly/9maJ63 #socialmedia
[…] we can get online before and during our flight, we can create networks. We can go on and say, “Who else wants a ride downtown?,” “Where should I eat in Ottawa?,” or […]