If you could choose who you sat next to on an aeroplane based on their Facebook profile or their Linkedin profile, would you do it?

Recent moves from Malaysia Airlines and now KLM will allow people to choose their seating arrangements on flights according to who they would like to be seated next to. So the question we ask ourselves is – will this be used for networking and making friends or will it become yet another dating service?

And we all know how people misrepresent themselves on social media. Can you imagine the mismatches that could happen? 12 hours next to someone on a plane is bad enough, but 12 hours next to someone who isn’t at all who you expected them to be is even worse.

Whether this works or not, and one imagines it could be quite successful, it goes without saying that more brands will be using social media like this. The question you must ask yourself is: How can social media improve your brand experience? What can it do to make your brand more human, more accessible and ultimately what can it do to differentiate your brand from others?

In a category like air travel, where many consumers make decisions based on price and convenience, this could be an interesting way for brands to differentiate themselves. Tie this in with onboard Wi-fi (as many airlines are now doing) and you have a great way for consumers to tweet / facebook their entire flight experience with their ‘partner’, giving your airline free advertising all the way through.

Who would you like to sit next to?