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!

[Falcncruzr]

As a courtesy to all people using this feature on the dashboard it would have been respectful to give a heads up notice about a change. Why is this so difficult to communicate ?

[poutine]

The Friends tile on my dashboard has no friends but has the message "Fitbit is more fun with friends."  I know that and where did my friends go?  If I click on the tile, there they are!  What's up with that?  Anyone else seeing this on their dashboard?

[SunsetRunner]

I can not find them either.  Very dissatisfied

[Avandelay]

@MatthewFitbit Previously, the app groups could only accept 10 people, which is why I had to start a community group on website. Are you saying that this has changed and that the groups on the app can now accept 2,000 members? Also, are we only able to see the last 7 days of average step counts in the app groups?

[dldmil]

I am having the same issue as of today.

[SunsetRunner]

Mine had the same thing today.  Nice to know it's just not me.  Not nice to have a glitch in the system like this.

[SunsetRunner]

@MatthewFitbit

very poor. 

I little notice would also be good.  Lets take it down then tell everyone that it is depreciated.

I think it is more like It broke and they do not want to fix it.

I used this feature to keep motivated with steps and activity minutes.  Distance was always broken anyway.

This was the feature that made fitbit different than others.

too bad.  I will rethink my next tracker.

[MatthewFitbit]

@Avandelay Yes - closed Community groups can have up to 2,000 members with leaderboard stats. You can read more about how to invite users to a closed group here. Closed group leaderboards are based on your step count for the past 7 days.

[SunsetRunner]

Such a draconian decision.  One of my favorite part of Fitbit just gone without notice.

Not much interest in fitbit site or tracker anymore.

[UnicornJean]

Mine is in the same state. I got told to delete the tile and re-add it, but that didn't fix it.

Fitbit, adding in the step that you must click on the tile to see the information, to me, is a step backward. Our groups are gone; please don't make our Friends tile harder to use.

[Avandelay]

@UnicornJean This is exactly correct. I cannot send new invites to the people that were in my community group because I have to be friends with them first. If I had a few days heads up, I could have added them all as friends and that would have allowed me to invite them into the new app group. Now, there is no way to recreate the group. This is incredibly irresponsible and unprofessional to shut off a major feature of your products like this with zero warning to any of the users.

[UnicornJean]

@MatthewFitbit(When I edited my answer, somehow it got marked as spam. 😞 )

I think the problem with the activity groups being gone is twofold.

The biggest problem has to do with how it was carried out. Fitbit has our email addresses; it uses them for marketing and for telling us what award we have gotten. If an email had been sent out telling the customers ahead of time, you wouldn't have this level of anger/annoyance. Something like: "in two weeks, Fitbit will be ending its support for activity groups. Please migrate your groups to our new, improved closed groups, available via the app on your mobile device."  You see, people were in the middle of little contests and that data vanished.

The other problem is that groups that were based on occupations, locations, or hobbies weren't always about knowing people personally. Librarians across the country, dog walkers across the country, and people who live in Amarillo have a profession, an interest, and a location in common. I cannot recreate those groups because I don't know the people personally. With no warning, there was no way to make connections which is required for the new closed groups. People MUST be invited and I cannot invite people I don't know, but against whom I paced myself.

Please consider being more proactive about announcing when you change things that impact your users. In my career in marketing and customer service, I have found that transparency in these matters usually helps us keep our customers happy with us as a company. I'm pretty sure it would do the same on the larger scale that Fitbit has.

[WendyB]

Moving this post to where the web groups have been closed and you can follow there

[SunsetRunner]

I agree with your well-written comment, Unicorn Jean.  Fitbit has come in the night and dropped a bomb on unsuspecting customers.  We deserve better than that.

[Valkat]

Why oh why have they been closed? Fitbit is a lot about community and a lot of people use these groups for challenges. 😳😳 in app community no good😢

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[bachman_marilyn]

That stinks! I lost my community group because I use the internet to keep track of my dash board? 

[tony62]

Same here since this morning

[tdhandy]

Same also, probably has something to do with the blasting of all the Activity Groups.

[Steve_Henderson]

 Fair enough, this will be my last (of many) fitbits.

[Colinm39]

The friends tile is part of my Communication and another blunder by Fitbit..

The tile is available but no activity.. I can see the same Friends in my Profile.. So it's just another link issue again..  I have tried all of the other suggestions from the earlier posts to no avail...

Fitbit moderators please give us a time frame to fix this error..

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