Fitness band maker Whoop launches its own social network, Humans
Whoop, the maker of screenless fitness bands, announced on Thursday the launch of a social network, Whoop Humans, inside its app. It lets users follow friends and family and voluntarily share health data.
Whoop, a company that makes screenless fitness bands, announced on Thursday the launch of a new social network, Whoop Humans, within its app. It is free for all subscribers, and it moves the company further into medical wellness, the field where its main competitor Oura also operates.
The feature lets users follow friends and family members and choose to share health data, including sleep and recovery metrics, workouts and achievements. Users can add photos and comments and react to other people's posts.
A more personal space than Teams
Whoop already offers Teams, a feature built around groups and leaderboards. Humans is designed as a more personal environment. Users decide who may follow them and which data can be seen. A coach, for example, can follow clients without seeing other participants' results. A stealth mode is available for privacy, while health alerts and medical information are not shared at all.
Company chief Will Ahmed says that in beta tests users reacted most actively to a low recovery score, which helps people notice when someone needs support. He expects families to use Humans too, for example adult children keeping track of their parents' health.
Growth and plans
Over the past 18 months Whoop has grown rapidly among users over 60, and the company is included in the US Medicare programme. It currently employs about 1,200 people and expects to reach nearly 4 million users by the end of the year.
Oura postponed its initial public offering, valued at 1.99 billion euros, in September, while Whoop plans to go public in the future. The company is also expanding sales: from March it will sell its devices in Ulta stores, as its female audience has more than doubled over the past year.
