Virgin America has become the first airline in the world to introduce a social networking service onboard its aircraft. The new seat-to-seat communication system allows passengers who want to communicate with others on board to do so through their seat-back screens. Virgin America already offers internet services to passengers and will soon offer those with internet capable devices the in-air ability to connect via Wi-Fi. However, these services still require passengers to fork out an additional charge.

Obviously not everybody is going to be keen on being bombarded with unwanted messages from other passengers on a long-haul flight. Virgin’s vice president of marketing, Porter Gale, said that just as on the ground, there were safeguards built into the Virgin networking in-flight system. Passengers have to agree to a code of ethics before they are allowed onto the network, and those who don’t want to use it can simply hit the off button.

The NY Times recently claimed that Virgin America was in talks with web-dating giant Match.com. The service will apparently go on specific flights for which it is deemed appropriate. Reportedly, one couple who met through the service are due to be married.

As well as being able to communicate with other individuals on the plane, the service allows groups to communicate with each other. Passengers can simply click onto as many seat numbers as they like until a group is formed. Individuals who find they have common interests can then peel off and chat amongst themselves.

A possible next move by Virgin might be to add video to the system so that passengers could see exactly who they are chatting with.