Facebook Ridesharing feature for festival goers coming soon
Facebook Ridesharing is a patent that was filed by the largest global social media platform in 2014 and if reports on Bidness ETC are anything to go by could become quite an integral part of the site in the near future.
The events pages have become an integral marketing mechanism for promoters of events big and small. Not so long ago they replaced the ‘maybe’ tab with the ‘Interested’ option – a subtle change but it’s these small enhancements that change the perception and influence that social media has on people.
As we all know party goers already use the event pages to find lifts, check on details or to see which friends are attending so Facebook Ridesharing will simply make this an official mechanism on these pages.
Facebook Ridesharing – how it will work
Facebook Ridesharing will use a sophisticated algorithm to best match up attendees based on their own personal interests, music tastes, mutual friends, places of education and other criteria. Sound creepy? Maybe but Facebook has been tracking your profile since day one and uses this information to target sponsored posts already.
You see they don’t want you to grab a lift with someone whose age or music interests make you feel uncomfortable during the ride to the event. With the Facebook Ridesharing they reckon they’ll be able to match up likeminded individuals instead. In a nutshell Facebook wants to make your carpooling experience as fun and enjoyable as they can.
How it will work is that when you click ‘going’ the new options will be to click ‘going and driving’ or ‘going but not driving’. If you select the former you will also be able to indicate how many seats are available. If you don’t want to offer a lift, simply click on ‘0 seats available.’ Don’t click ‘going but not driving’ because then Facebook will attempt to match you up with someone who is offering a lift.
Opinion
Facebook Ridesharing may sound creepy to some but in fact it is something that is already happening on event pages so why not make it function better? It’ll save money, petrol and hopefully make your carpooling experience that much more fun. And you may make some new ‘real’ friends instead of only on Facebook!
Your thoughts?
