BA flies solo


British Airways has launched a social media platform called Metrotwin which links Londoners and New Yorkers and is being touted as "one of the biggest forays into social media by a major brand to date."

They've got seat-back screens and keypads, right? So, why aren't they enabling this social network on-board where they've got a captive and engaged audience? They often have nothing better to do. Plus, their opinions would be top of mind: The pub they just had a beer. The restaurant where they dined. The show they saw. The car they rented. The hotel they stayed at. The seat they had on the plane. The airline that lost their luggage. ;-)

Hmmm … Personally, I’d have preferred a massive partnership with TripAdvisor or Dopplr or even TimeOut instead of going the “gotta own it all” route. People don't like having to do things in different places. Does this integrate with FriendFeed? Is it tied into Facebook or other networks? Is there an RSS feed that can be plugged into wherever you want? Can my SeatGuru feedback be folded in with my opinions? Does it work with Soup and others like it? What about getting my holiday pics from Flickr into it? Is that possible?

I know airlines are in the business of flying solo, but is going it alone really the best experience for travelers?

One thing is for sure, I’m sure BBH and Agency.com were very happy to build and market a stand-alone social network for them.