Activity Groups have been closed

[MatthewFitbit]

Fitbit Update 6/14/19: We have removed the web-based activity groups from Fitbit.com. Our enhanced community features within the Fitbit mobile app provide users with a significantly better experience by allowing them to access fitness-related news and local events, connect and message with friends, discover public groups of like-minded individuals, and create their own private groups.

User-created groups on the Fitbit app also allow members to track their progress through group leaderboards and cheer each other on, just as they could through the web. The Fitbit mobile app is available for Android and iOS.

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As of 6/13/2019, Web Activity Groups have been deprecated and will no longer be accessible.

We know that many of you have used this space to connect with friends and fellow Fitbit users, and we recommend considering the in-app Fitbit Community to continue those conversations. Along with topical public threads where you can discuss personal health goals, the Community also offers closed groups with many advantages - including space for up to 2,000 members, and leaderboard statistics.

For more information on joining and inviting your friends to these closed groups, check out this article. We know that this kind of transition can be difficult, but we are confident that you'll find lots to love in the new Fitbit Community!

[mariomo]

Same here.  Mine disappeared and I haven't found any announcements or press releases to explain.

[kehoops]

THIS!  @UnicornJean nailed it!

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@UnicornJean wrote:

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@MattFitbit wrote:

Our enhanced community features within the Fitbit mobile app provide users with a significantly better experience by allowing them to access fitness-related news and local events, connect and message with friends, discover public groups of like-minded individuals, and create their own private groups.

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I really am looking for a solution. Where are the local groups near Amarillo, Texas? Denver and Austin are not "local" by any stretch of the imagination. Where can I find groups of other librarians? Where can I find folks who like to walk their dogs?

You see, I only was friends with one person in the Amarillo group. The other working and retired librarians weren't personal friends -- the people I know who were in that profession don't have Fitbit products. The 1300+ dog walkers weren't personal friends; my friends here who walk dogs don't have Fitbits. What you have done is isolate your customers who felt part of a community, be it their profession, their small town, their place of employment, or an interest that made them different from the norm -- one of my groups was folks over 50 who walked their dogs. 

What it feels like to many of us is that instead of letting us play in the shallow end of the pool, you are throwing us off the highest diving board into the deepest end of the pool, along with all the other folks. You are combining the local baseball team with the pros and expecting the less-experienced folks not to get discouraged.

One of the reasons I love my Fitbit is it let me look at others like me. Maybe I wasn't so bad at what I did since I could get into the top 10% of my groups if I pushed myself. It encouraged me to push for that extra 200 steps to get ahead of the person just in front of me -- and f that person took another 100 steps, I'd get up and walk, too. These ginormous groups that *Fitbit* thinks we will like won't do that. 

<sigh> So do you have answers to my questions? Will Fitbit create a public Amarillo group? Or maybe one for the Texas Panhandle? How will you find out about local events and tell those of us here about them? Is there a place where folks who want to walk in the Palo Duro Canyon can see if anyone else would be interested?

Please do consider these questions.

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[Ekog]

My community/challenge group also stopped working yesterday and I am unable to connect to it with a direct link . . . additionally the link to the community page no longer appears in the drop down menu and I no longer see friends on the dashboard.  I was thinking that this might be isolated to my computer but I tried logging on at work and the same conditions exist there so its either the website or my login, either way I hope its corrected soon.

[amyking]

Yes, this is very frustrating. This is the whole reason I even have a FitBit. I've been in a group of 10 for over 3 years now and we all check in multiple times a day. BRING THIS BACK!

[bachman_marilyn]

The changes made to Fitbit Activity Groups is just another way this company is trying to make money. However, its going to back fire because people are disgusted with the fact they can't do their Web Activity groups. I won't buy anymore Fitbit products now that I can't do my web group and I definitely won't be buying any Fitbits as gifts for Christmas or any other special occasions. Not being able to do a community group diminishes the Fitbit fun and value.

[Bosco253]

Thanks for the advance notice - NOT! How much thought was given to the fact that a large number of users do NOT access their groups via smartphone, but on a laptop or desktop? Well, I'll tell you - NONE! Absolutely NO thought was given to that and those people apparently don't matter.

This is yet another example of decision makers telling consumers that their wants, desires, and concerns matter not one iota. The company knows what is best; the consumers don't. 

At least I'm glad you did this before I bought the Charge 3 which, as of a few days ago, I had planned to do this weekend. 

[Bosco253]

J-flex, in response to your question:

[1] Yes, it has been deleted.  [2] As for the "why" it is because they wanted to. They know more about what you need and don't care what you want.

[vee]

Me too, as of yesterday. Moderator??

[stinkfuut]

I used my groups as motivation, and it's become part of my life of a period of years. Now my groups are just gone, with no path to re-joining them that I can see, if they even exist anymore. 

This is unacceptable. This was the one feature that kept me from looking at other fitness trackers. This is how customers are lost.

[SunsetRunner]

@MattFitbit no question from me. I will simply move to a different fitness tracker as soon as I am done with fitbit. Not a fan of that kind of customer support and services. Not a fan either of a company who knows what is good and better for me.

[Cameronevans]

Having same issue 

find friend tile invaluable to push those few extra steps out 

please make it back to the old way please 

[dawashere]

I think this is really sad.  I represent somewhere around 20 people (and growing) who used a group in a work related competition.  It was great because we could login, compare and compete with each other, etc.

Sounds like it is time to find a different product.

[J-flex]

@Bosco253   Yes, they certainly have been doing that for awhile.  I have a Blaze, which has since been discontinued.  Prior to the discontinuation I had several open tickets of unresolved issues with it.  These were never resolved, so basically I have an expensive watch.  Off topic I always liked to remember Fitbit (lack of) support I drive a vehicle that is no longer manufactured and continue to receive excellent customer from the dealership.  Fitbit doesn’t understand or seems of care about how valuable customer support is to a business.

[lisapalmer]

Hello,,

Our company has been purchasing FitBits for our entire staff for the past 3 years or so.  We have monthly Fitbit challenges within our closed group.  There was no notice the groups were closing and the new functionality through the mobile app only appears to track results for 7 days.  This is a disappointing change as the your post states "our enhanced community features within the Fitbit mobile app provide users with a significantly better experience".  I disagree.  There is less functionality within the closed groups.  The distance and active minutes do not show and there is no prior history as there was before showing the prior months data.  How does the new 7 day limit rollover?  Does it reset on Sundays? Monday?  It is a rolling 7 day total?  Please provide more information regarding this and improve the content.

[Mainman]

Seems like the leaderboard only shows last 7 days and you can't choose current month to date or prior months.  Basically it's worthless now!

[checking]

For what it is worth, I have put in a feature suggestion that simply states "I suggest you reinstate the Community Activity Groups." Perhaps (but unlikely) they will respond to numbers. You can see, and vote for the suggestion if you agree, here

[SunsetRunner]

Dear Fitbit -

Please explain to me how I can replicate the activity group for Manchester, UK - this had over 100 active members, and I was regularly in the top 10 on the monthly figures.

Likewise the worldwide Diabetes group, which had more than 500 active members.

"Competing" against total strangers in different places was a *huge* and invaluable incentive for me to get out and exercise - particularly when the weather is bad.

I don't know any of the members as "friends" - and because many of them do not have a unique username it is impossible to contact them from the app.

Also - you know what? - I can't remember all the names...

More or less everyone who used activity groups will be in the same situation. The groups on the app *ARE NOT THE SAME* and do not offer the same functionality. AFAICS the groups on the app are a huge friends list or a bulletin board. There is no monthly leaderboard.

This was a U.S.P. for Fitbit, none of your competitors had such a feature and you've just removed it! *WITHOUT ANY NOTICE!*

I've bought 5 Fitbit devices in the last year for friends and family, It's pretty much inconceivable I'll buy any more.

[SunsetRunner]

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@kehoops wrote:

Beautifully put.

[maria2r]

@amyking    @ashmorde

I don't even know how to start joining a group because I had just started that monthly challenge. I do not have many personal friends actively engaged in challenges and If I am not a friend with a group admin, I cannot get an invite. 

[dr_when]

I chatted with someone from tech support and I guess they dropped the "groups" link from the website browser (I used Chrome) and said to use the apps. I am disappointed because I used the web page to check my groups on a daily basis.