Facebook wants to be a lot of things. It wants to be a platform for businesses to sell products, sell ads, be a promotional platform for musicians and bands, virtual reality, live video streaming, and at one point in time, they also wanted to be associated with mobile phones in the hardware sense.
Now it looks like according to a recently discovered patent, it seems that Facebook might be thinking about being a platform for ride sharing as well. However according to the patent, it doesn’t seem like it would compete with companies like Uber. In fact if anything, it sounds like it could even tie-in rather nicely with Uber’s services.
Basically according to the patent, if you are planning on attending an event, you can indicate if you will be driving. You can also indicate how many passengers can fit into your car. Alternatively you can also invites friends to sit in your car and also note the location from which you will be leaving.
However if you aren’t driving but need a ride, you can then check to see who else might be going and if you can get a ride from them. Facebook will also take into account your likes and the other person’s likes, so that at the very least you guys will have something in common as opposed to sharing a car with someone you don’t have anything in common with.
It’s an interesting idea and seems to be expanding more on the Events feature of Facebook, but what do you guys make of it? Do you think it’s a good idea, or do you feel that maybe it’s starting to feel a bit too clinical in its implementation?