Wearable Social Media

“I think that [social media] will be more integrated into everything. As you think further down the road, I don’t think that there’s going to be something called social media that people will be talking about in 30 years. I’m not even sure if people will be talking about it in five years.” – Ellie Wheeler, Greycroft Partners, Principal

Social Media’s future is being shaped by such emerging technological trends as wearable electronic devices and activity tracker applications. Both FitBit wearable activity tracker device and iFit fitness application for treadmills are actively engaged in building social communities on-line, making them an integral part of the overall experience.

FitBit is a portfolio of popular activity trackers that allow a consumer to measure such key metrics as number of steps, amount of sleep, pulse and even record distances/location. Some are worn like watches and others clip onto your clothing. The company also has an electronic scale that wirelessly communicates with other Fitbit tracker devices. FitBit created a social media community on its web-site, which has sport related discussion boards. Alison Leahy, Director of Community for Fitbit, who helped to launch FitBit first social community platform, is an early supporter of communities. “It was really through blogging that I started to notice the power of online comments and user engagement and develop an interest in the psychological aspects of online community,” she said. “In particular, what happens when you carve out spaces for debate and self-expression and even support spaces for brands and companies online.” FitBit has built a vibrant community on-line consisting of discussions boards on different health related topics.

iFit is a health-tracking system that provides maps, visualization, and workouts for those working out on iFit enabled equipment. It allows to track daily activities likes sleep, calories consumed, steps taken, and distance traveled.  iFit also allows consumers to record their diet and exercise statsitics. The technology is built into many exercise hardware products like ellipticals and treadmills from ProForm, FreeMotion and NordicTrack to measure and track workouts for users. With iFit lets consumers could use Google Street View to emulate the experience of a real-world fitness activity. For example, a user could map out the Boston Marathon and run along the course with the treadmill automatically adjusting the incline or decline to match the marathon terrain.

Socializing within the iFit community is expected to add motivation to your training. iFit members can follow one another just like members in other social media platforms. Moreover, IFit members could create and experience exercise challenges with their friends and followers.

Lessons for Others

Social media is expected to become more seamlessly integrated into consumer’s everyday activities via modern electronic devices and applications.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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