Honestly, I think the seat maps are doing more harm than good.

Here's a fuller piece about the same flight. and there's a quote saying that people were yelling at the middle-seat passengers, because they didn't understand the policy and thought that the seats wouldn't be occupied.

I think you either have to limit the capacity on any given flight -- which, ultimately, is unsustainable -- or just remove the seat blocking and let people figure it out. The current policy makes people feel that they're being lied to.