There are early adopters and then there are the naysayers. Social seating is the idea of seats planned by or for social media. From using social media to select a seat mate, to booking a ticket at a theater based on where tweeting is permitted, many can agree that the concept of social media-assisted seating is an interesting one in the travel and entertainment industry.

Social Seats in the Air…

Social media can be used to plan your trip and stay in touch with folks back home while you’re away, and now it’s being talked about as an aide for passengers to make the most out of their flight. For travelers on board Delta or Malaysia Airlines flights, the option has been available for some time now to select your seat via Facebook – a feature that is mostly useful if your friends are traveling on the same flight and using Facebook. This feature takes some of the ‘yuck’ out of being stuck with a stranger next to you who may otherwise make your flight more turbulent than necessary.

But what if you’re not flying with people you know? KLM has this one covered! They’re putting social media to good use in an effort to place the best possible stranger next to you on board their flights. If you haven’t heard by now, earlier this month KLM announced a new ‘social seating‘ feature to be launched sometime early in 2012. The basic idea? Using social media data from Facebook and LinkedIn, passengers choosing to use the service can be seated next to other travelers with similar interests or business goals.

It sounds a lot like a sky-high dating service, and like any other matchmaker site, there are sure to be ups and downs. Many skeptics are concerned about sales pitches being made at 35,000 feet, so they may not want to sign up for the service believed to be a free offering. That being said, I am completely on board with this new social service, and if I am ever so lucky to fly KLM, I’ll be trying it out.

… and Social Seats on Land

Another kind of social seating getting lots of conversation recently is the idea of special social media seating in theaters. You’ve heard of box seats, nose bleed seats, prime seats, floor seats, front row seats and now add to that, ‘tweet seats.’

Theaters all over the US are looking to social media to FILL their seats by attempting to generate a bit of buzz. As to be expected, not all theater fans are jumping up and down at the idea. Some concert goers fear that the brightly-lit screens of smart phones and mobile devices will be a distraction in a dimly-lit theater.

The added digital conversation is hoped to spark interest among a new generation of opera/ballet/symphony goers by getting people talking about performances and sharing the excitement with their social networks. Many theaters have specific hashtags for performances, and influential tweeters with a taste for fine arts may be offered a free tweet seat from a clever marketing strategy, like that of The Boston Ballet (according to BostInno).

What does this mean?

Some travel and entertainment brands are seizing the opportunity to use social networks to enhance customer experience. I imagine this concept will be adopted further by other players in the travel and entertainment industries. From activities at a resort, to dining seating on a cruise ship, there are great opportunities to be uncovered.

What about you? Would you jump at the chance to be seated socially on a plane or in a theater? Or should things be left the way they are?

Jenn Seeley tweets, talks and blogs about Travel, Entertainment and Leisure. Follow her on Twitter and check out her most recent posts here.

Tags: Airlines, ballet, BostInno, Boston Ballet, Delta, KLM, Malaysia Airlines, NPR, opera, Social Seats, symphony, travel, tweet seats