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I simply don't see the potential. My anecdotal experience has been that the target demographics for these apps simply aren't as social as investors think they

I simply don't see the potential. My anecdotal experience has been that the target demographics for these apps simply aren't as social as investors think they are. Is there room for growth? Probably. Billion-dollar growth? Not even close. I like the idea of profiles for a personalized taxi service, but not because of the possibilities for social connections.

themagician 12y ago
There is definitely a kind of person who's interested in the social aspect of ride-sharing. In fact, there's always been—the people who hitchhike and those wiling to pick them up. You're right though. It's a small group. These features are for a very small percent of the total user base. Neat though.
- jvm 12y ago
  > There is definitely a kind of person who's interested in the social aspect of ride-sharing. In fact, there's always been—the people who hitchhike and those wiling to pick them up. My grandfather hitchhiked to school when he was young. He lived in rural Minnesota and that was the only way to get around, he didn't do it to be social. Now that most people have other options, the only people still doing it are the people who want the social experience, and it's not many. I'm not saying there is no potential social appeal to rideshare whatsoever, but like parent, I'm guessing it's slim.
  - bostonpete 12y ago
    > the only people still doing it are the people > who want the social experience Based on the people I see hitchhiking and the people I know who have, I have to believe that it's often (maybe usually) still motivated by means rather than a desire for a social experience.
Jacqued 12y ago
Blablacar(https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/blablacar https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/blablacar), which specializes in longer rides (>45min) rebranded itself in this way too. It used to be called Covoiturage.fr (which translates to Ridesharing.fr). It already features profiles and when you select a ride, you can chose whether you don't really want to talk (bla), don't mind talking (bla bla) or really want to talk (bla bla bla) during the ride. In my anecdotal experience using the service for 1h-2h30 rides, people mostly chat all ride long. I've met really interesting people, although I've yet to keep a lasting connection with anyone. Of course the first motivation to use the service is financial, but a lot of people like the social aspect of it too, as opposed to a train where you're just not supposed to talk to people. Anyway, they have been quite successful until now in Europe at least.
- curun1r 12y ago
  > you can chose whether you don't really want to talk (bla), don't mind talking (bla bla) or really want to talk (bla bla bla) during the ride. I wish airlines would develop that feature when selecting seats. Just simply allowing people to choose one of those options and have it show up in the seat map when subsequent passengers are selecting their seats would be quite interesting.

themagician 12y ago

There is definitely a kind of person who's interested in the social aspect of ride-sharing. In fact, there's always been—the people who hitchhike and those wiling to pick them up. You're right though. It's a small group. These features are for a very small percent of the total user base. Neat though.

jvm 12y ago
> There is definitely a kind of person who's interested in the social aspect of ride-sharing. In fact, there's always been—the people who hitchhike and those wiling to pick them up. My grandfather hitchhiked to school when he was young. He lived in rural Minnesota and that was the only way to get around, he didn't do it to be social. Now that most people have other options, the only people still doing it are the people who want the social experience, and it's not many. I'm not saying there is no potential social appeal to rideshare whatsoever, but like parent, I'm guessing it's slim.
- bostonpete 12y ago
  > the only people still doing it are the people > who want the social experience Based on the people I see hitchhiking and the people I know who have, I have to believe that it's often (maybe usually) still motivated by means rather than a desire for a social experience.

Jacqued 12y ago

Blablacar(https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/blablacar https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/blablacar), which specializes in longer rides (>45min) rebranded itself in this way too. It used to be called Covoiturage.fr (which translates to Ridesharing.fr). It already features profiles and when you select a ride, you can chose whether you don't really want to talk (bla), don't mind talking (bla bla) or really want to talk (bla bla bla) during the ride. In my anecdotal experience using the service for 1h-2h30 rides, people mostly chat all ride long. I've met really interesting people, although I've yet to keep a lasting connection with anyone. Of course the first motivation to use the service is financial, but a lot of people like the social aspect of it too, as opposed to a train where you're just not supposed to talk to people. Anyway, they have been quite successful until now in Europe at least.

curun1r 12y ago
> you can chose whether you don't really want to talk (bla), don't mind talking (bla bla) or really want to talk (bla bla bla) during the ride. I wish airlines would develop that feature when selecting seats. Just simply allowing people to choose one of those options and have it show up in the seat map when subsequent passengers are selecting their seats would be quite interesting.