
Lyft Profiles - levpopov
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/lyft-adds-profiles-to-make-ride-sharing-more-personalized/?fb_ref=Default&_r=0
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natrius
Viewing this as a branding exercise is missing the whole picture. UberPOOL and
Lyft Line will revolutionize transportation by convincing drivers to pick up
passengers during their commutes to and from work to pay their gas,
maintenance, and then some. They'll convince riders to get in cars with
strangers for prices that make owning more than one car in a household
unreasonable, even in the suburbs.

Doing that requires far more people to get comfortable sharing small spaces
with strangers. Profiles are a step in that direction.

EDIT: Either I missed it the first time, or they added a big chunk to the
article about Line. Regardless, the branding angle is far secondary to Line.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _by convincing drivers to pick up passengers during their commutes to and
> from work to pay their gas, maintenance, and then some_

Which is yet another case of capitalism replacing what was a common courtesy
with a business transaction. I have _very conflicting_ feelings about this.

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tnorthcutt
When has it been a common courtesy to pick up strangers on your way to work?

A courtesy, yes. But a common one?

(I'm actually genuinely interested - was this common at some point in
history?)

~~~
TeMPOraL
In post-soviet countries like Poland it was (less so now, but still popular).
At some point we even had "hitchhiker's booklets" with coupons you would leave
drivers who took you, and they could then use in lotteries. Hitchhiking was a
strong tradition in Central/Eastern Europe, and - in some parts of the
continent - still is.

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mrb
_" If a user has connected their Facebook account, the Lyft app can show if
drivers and passengers have mutual friends in common."_

I see so many possibilities around adding a social dimension to ride-sharing
services. What if the app would in fact try to preferably connect you with a
rider who has mutual Facebook friends with you? What if the drivers and
passengers could check a box indicating they were single and would like to use
rides as a way to have an informal, inexpensive, casual date? What about
matching people based on common business interests (looking for an employee or
employer)? People-to-people contact during a ride finally makes social "real",
unlike Facebooking while sitting in front of your laptop alone in your
apartment.

The potential is really immense. One day, Uber and other ride-sharing
companies being valued so high won't look so ridiculous.

~~~
edgyswingset
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
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
> 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
> 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.

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nostromo
Thought experiment: if Lyft had a fleet of autonomous cabs called Lyftbot that
was 10% cheaper, but not social, would anyone pay more for the "social
experience" of a human cabby?

This feels like a feature from 2010 when every interaction was destined to
become social. Social shopping, social search, social everything... until it
wasn't.

I love Lyft and use it all the time. But it's there to get me to a
destination. I enjoy chatting with the driver, but that's incidental. I hope
they don't mess it up by forcing it to be more social than it need be -- let's
call it "pulling a Google+."

~~~
therobot24
> would anyone pay more for the "social experience" of a human cabby?

Only if i had just moved to the area or was in another country so i could talk
to the driver - but this is no different than if i were in a traditional cab.
But otherwise i agree, the point of the most of these lyft/uber/cab rides is
the destination, anything else is just fluff.

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javabank
I personally wouldn't feel comfortable putting up a profile for a service such
as Uber or Lyft. I especially wouldn't feel comfortable for my SO to have a
profile - she already feels uncomfortable using these services by herself
(though safer than a taxi, sexual assault incidents do happen). I'm not sure
if this is a step in the right direction. The drivers in my area aren't people
I would want to connect with or share personal info...

Instead of sharing personal info, why can't we know when the driver started
driving for Uber or Lyft? Some have just started and have 5.0 ratings even
though they may have only completed a handful of rides...

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thewhizkid
Not a fan of this. 99% of the time I just want to get from A to Z, not become
besties with my Lyft driver.

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olegious
I find that sometimes after work I don't want to talk to anyone, but minutes
after getting into a Lyft, I feel happier because the driver has energized me
with their personality and conversation.

~~~
thewhizkid
Sure...but I'd rather not expose my Facebook information to a stranger. I can
just...talk.

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tswartz
I believe this is a great step for Lyft to continue to differentiate
themselves from Uber. In SF they are perceived as the 'friendly' service, but
when I've talked to friends in other parts of the country they don't seem to
view them differently than Uber.

I hope the profiles are limited in what they ask so users aren't turned off of
the service because they feel that they have to share too many personal
details.

~~~
viscanti
This is tricky to pull off. Too much data and it's just creepy. Too little
data and it might as well not be there.

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kevando
I love this. It indicates that Lyft truly has a big vision, just beyond ride
sharing. I bet Fred Wilson blogs about this tomorrow.

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iblaine
This is a good move by Lyft. Uber has cornered the market for taking someone
from point A to point B. Lyft needs to give customers the perception that
there's more to the industry than being a low cost taxi. Not sure if it will
pay off...not sure if Lyft has much of a choice...but seems logical for them
to go down this path.

~~~
larrys
I wonder how many people actually want to make happy talk when they are in a
cab. I don't as one example.

~~~
thebouv
I don't even want to talk to my friends in the car. Get from point A to point
B, listen to the radio, be quiet. Rest of my day is noise.

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RyLo
I'm a fan of the branding moves Lyft has been making recently. Will these
moves be enough to supplant Uber as my preferred ride-share service? Probably
not.

I don't see the introduction of profiles hindering Lyft's progress as some
have suggested, but I don't see this as being a huge leap forward to gain
ground on Uber either. If anything with more information about my driver the
greater obligation and guilt I will feel to tip them more. I am now
emotionally invested in my driver's wellbeing. This is an obligation that I
don't feel when choosing Uber, but I can still engage in the same
conversations with the driver should the mood strike.

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therobot24
Has anyone ever used something like the "MichiVan" from vRide? It's been
around for quite some time as a work carpool service. I'm curious how it
compares with Lyft/Uber in terms of cost.

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jbryant1221
I've heard in a recent interview that the work force will be over 50%
freelance by around 2020. Looks like even the cab industry is going that way.

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JoeAltmaier
Why does the driver matter when choosing a cab? Lots of room for profiling
etc. Another way to subtly discriminate e.g. avoid women drivers or anybody
who likes ethnic music.

Choosing someone who you 'get along with' is a code phrase for excluding
everybody different.

~~~
dcre
Users don't choose the driver, though. In these services the only way to do
that would be to cancel the ride and ask for a new one immediately. Users who
want to discriminate against their drivers have enough information already —
name and photo — to do that. Not to mention that Lyft can detect the behavior
easily and take corrective measures if necessary, such as making it clear that
they know users are doing that. But I doubt that'll happen.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Its supposed to be all about getting a driver with topics of conversation in
common. They're adding profiles for drivers, that's clear in the article. What
use adding them if you can't see them? Of course the customer can see them.
And choose between them. Did I read the same article?

~~~
davmre
Most interests are pretty simple keywords so it'd certainly be possible to do
algorithmic matching on the backend. But the article doesn't actually say
they'll use profiles to choose drivers. More likely they'll continue sending
you the closest available driver (at least at first), and if their profile
indicates a shared interest, great, now you have something to talk about.

