Social Weight-Working?

Social networking meets exercise. Sounds crazy, right? I thought the same thing until I looked deeper into the new “Wi-Fi Scale” from Withings. Basically, this is a regular bathroom weight scale with a twist: it has a built-in 802.11G wireless networking card built-in, which can connect to your wireless network at home and post your weight and body mass index on Twitter.

I know.

The idea is that by providing the ability to share one’s [very personal] health statistics with the rest of the open world, said fatty will “benefit from the online peer motivation.” Their words, not mine. In essence it could be a good idea, but the first thought that comes to my mind is that this whole “social networking” thing has been taken a bit too far.

I love Twitter, Facebook and YouTube just as much as the next guy – maybe a little more, considering I’ve partially merged my life with the interwebz – but seriously? Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine a person who, in an effort to loose a few pounds, would appreciate the idea of weighing in every day, eager to share his or her weight with the rest of the Twitterverse (especially if said weight is a bit on the heavy side). On one hand, I definitely understand how peer motivation helps with getting people in shape; every single person I know who uses a gym or works out regularly has a friend (or a few friends) who they exercise with. Having a buddy to go to the rec center with or someone to jog a mile or two alongside you is a major motivator, especially if said person has a hard time getting themselves on a treadmill – but this “social weight-working” seems more embarrassing than motivational to me.

In retrospect, I’ve never been one that has suffered from weight problems, and therefore perhaps am not the best source of opinion for a product like the “Wi-Fi Scale” – but knowing many people who have suffered from obesity, I genuinely cannot see them jumping to buy such a product. As our devices in our homes get more and more “wired” (or technologically advanced), and begin communicating with each other and with the world through the internet, things like this are becoming more and more commonplace. LG has a refrigerator with a monitor in it that lets you bring up recipes, order groceries (if your grocer supports delivery) and even print out shopping lists for your next trip to the store – this is nothing new. The premise behind social networking, however, was never meant to embarrass people into working off the pounds.