Verified Owner Rule

[Mike40]

It would give user comments extra weight, and this forum greater authority if a verified owner filter were applied.
Postings related to any fitbit device would only be possible for verified owners of that specific device.
Something similar is used by Amazon with a "Verified Purchase" indication next to product ratings. It would then be hard to ignore, not to answer, or to brush aside negative comments, implying they are not genuine or posted by the competition. It would also rid the forum of any postings of the last type - ideally with retrospective effect.

[Triletics]

And if somebody wants to ask about device that plans to buy? I think you are also wrong about negative comments. Lots of those come from actual unhappy owners 🤷 Competitors don't have to do anything to make Fitbit position worse. Fitbit does that really well by itself.

[Mike40]

imho

1. If one considers buying a Fitbit device, first he/she would have a look at any of dozens of reviews out there and then read through user experiences. This forum can still be of valuable service to potential buyers: What would the point be in writing to ask "is this device worth buying?" if he/she can read that user's A  device stopped working, or user's B device fell apart, etc.

2. We simply do not know if among the, no doubt, many unhappy owners there are one or two not so unhappy and not at all owners.

3. I do agree with Fitbit's talent, as repeatedly and vividly documented in this forum, in scoring own goals, some fortuitous, some planned (case study of the latter: Sense to Sense 2 downgrade)

[LZeeW]

@Mike40   This site has ways to identify suspected fraudulent and bot accounts.  It isn't perfect, but I strongly believe that opinion posts are coming from real users.  Like @Triletics mentioned, many non-owners come with questions about which device might be right for them.  You can also use the Fitbit app with the motion sensors in your phone and you don't need to own a Fitbit at all.