General Motors is offering a new feature they are calling "responsible connectivity". This allows you to check your Facebook for messages and update your status from your car.
This would be part of the OnStar system. OnStar is the subscription based support service that comes with GM cars.
I saw this when I was watching television and there was a commercial about a man dropping off his date at the door. He then goes to his car and drives away. While he is driving he is able to use OnStar to check his Facebook and finds the girl has posted that she is back from the best date EVER.
I work with social media every day and far be it for me to say it isn't important to stay connected. But even I have to say enough is enough.
Social networking while driving might just be one distraction that drivers don't need. Unfortunately we continually read about horrible accidents by people, especially teens, who text while driving.
OnStar is quick to point out to the Transportation Department that this is a hands free device. But anything that takes your focus off the road is still a distraction. Drivers already do enough things in the car that they shouldn't without giving them some other way to multi-task.
I love Facebook and other social media tools and I don't want to see them get a bad reputation. There are plenty of ways to access your social profiles from computers to your cell phone any time of the day. Save your social networking for when you're not in a moving vehicle.
What do you think? Do you need to stay connected so much that you would buy a car with this feature?