Consumer Tech Social Media and Updates

Wearables Drive Shift From Bars to Active Socializing

Bit of a long tweet (sorry), but: Will Ahmed (Whoop CEO) quote tweeted the same Diplo health video that Derek's referencing, and said something along the lines of "we're seeing this trend of younger people turn to more active leisure past times as group hangs rather than traditional bars reflected in Whoop data, but also we're aware how instrumental Whoop was in this shift." You can replace Whoop with your Apple Watch or Garmin Fenix or your Oura ring, but I do think there's something to be said — beyond the performative nature of sharing every Strava or sleep score stat with your friends — about how a) we used to know that drinking culture was bad for us, but we didn't see it reflected on our wrist and in our phone every day and b) we're in an obsessive feedback loop with our own biometric tracking products that are partially designed to make you feel guilty for not closing your rings, for "failing" at "basic" human health. I think wearables are some of the greatest innovations in our time, and I know it's what Tim Cook is most proud of, but our data and stats fetishistic obsessions and gamification of our health through personal biometric tracking means this is the next pack-mentality behavioral shift for a growing percentage of people. Not everyone, of course, but a growing percent.