Social networks aren’t about Web sites. They’re about experiences.

Mike DiLorenzo, NHL social media marketing director

It is almost certain that when the phrase “social network”, or “social media”, is used people’s minds invariably think of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter et al. In truth, social networks are much, much more ingrained in our Web 3.0 experience. Even traditional news media websites encourage the fostering of social networks of a sort, by having registered users creating profiles and commenting on stories and opinion pieces one sees that over time a community is born, almost organically, by the user base – people who regularly comment get “known” by others, and conversations (and in some cases full-blown arguments) between users flow as naturally as those across the tables in dinner parties from the 1980s, just in their virtual setting.

The last twenty years has seen an absolute boom in personal fitness so it should surprise no-one that this boom has not only found its way online, but has flourished. As the web has moved from Web 1.0, through to Web 2.0 and into the social web as we know it now, online fitness has followed along and grown from the WebMD style information driven sites of the late 1990s, to the blogs and wellness sites of Web 2.0, through the dawn of social-driven communities such as Strava, Zwift, Peloton and others.

These web services (as opposed to web sites) have built themselves on the basis of ‘community’ – Stava, for example, is not simply a place to store data about your runs, rides, swims and other activities. It’s where you can find friends you know personally, those you’ve met online and those that people who you know only through their Strava activity. You can give others praise (in the form of ‘kudos’) for their efforts and receive it back. You can comment on people’s activities, and they on yours.

Zwift has arguably taken this idea even further by enabling groups of athletes to form and ride or run collectively within the virtual worlds that Zwift has created. Where Zwift has expanded on the simple community notion is that these groups often organise themselves independently of the Zwift ecosystem, many groups having their own Facebook groups to help organise group events, or organise team for Zwift races. From here, a number of real world connections and friendships form. In this sense, Zwift becomes much more than a connected fitness app – they tread the line between the virtual and real world.

It’s easy to think of social networks in the simple form of being Facebook, Twitter, et al, however this underplays just how integrated these social networks and virtual communities are beginning to play in our lives. What we are seeing, in essence, is the creation of a ‘social networks 2.0’ period, building on the foundations of the first social networks (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter) and into a much more intertwined experience, in which connected fitness apps are at the forefront.

The real question here is what comes next as our lives become further intertwined with our virtual ecosystems – whether that be through the ‘working from home’ model that has exploded, globally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, or through our leisure and hobby time. It is interesting to note that Facebook, to use one example, started out as a workplace productivity killer, and is now seen as a vital tool for brand messaging and awareness, such that virtually every workplace has a Facebook page, and some, through Workplace from Meta (formally Workplace from Facebook), have their own ‘private’ Facebook-driven employee network and collaboration tools.

It will be interesting to see if the connected fitness apps can likewise become as engrained, as workplaces seek to expand wellness offerings and offer a greater work/life balance to their employees. My guess is that over time they will as workplaces strive to keep their workforce healthy – what could be better than offering them a fully subsidised health and wellness plan driven by connected fitness apps they possibly already use and trust?

To me, this would be the arrival of ‘connected fitness 2.0’ – the next logical step in their evolution. However, what happens after that is anyone’s guess. It is not news that Meta (ie: Facebook) wants to be the one-stop shop for the internet. At present, all of these social networks are fragmented into their own use cases and getting them to exist in a ‘one-stop-fits-all’ approach will be difficult. Does the average Strava user want to be in a Facebook-esque existence where they get not only their fitness data, but access to news, podcasts, their wider friends base, possibly their work colleagues as well?

If we’re asking that question in 2022, then the answer is likely ‘no’ – the Strava user uses Strava for its features, not because they want the latest news. But that’s not to say that Strava could not link into their gym membership and complete the cycle of virtual to real world. Such a relationship benefits both Strava and the gym, but also the user, by being able to save favourite gym routines, have it load up in Strava, and even sync to their watch so starting the activity on one starts it on all data touch points.

The gym can use that data to better program gym routines for their members, customised around what they are already doing and automatically giving the member progression ideas – further encouraging their visitation. Strava and the watch can then provide better health feedback (to both the gym and the user), even getting to the point where it could alert the user, their gym, and possibly their health provider, or potential issues with training load.

All of these can exist in a world of interconnected programs and devices we have now. Or they can exist in one place that collates all of the data, providing the best outcome for users based on a myriad of factors. This, I believe, is what Meta is trying to achieve. It is possible, but it’s going to take a lot of work, not only from a build perspective, but also navigating the privacy and ethical concerns that come with housing this amount of personal data on a single individual, let alone the current user base Facebook has.

As the world becomes smarter and more devices are connected, this is the challenge for the future of social networks. The key is retaining the ‘social’ part of the equation, whilst also being mindful of individual concerns. However, after all is said and done, social networks aren’t going anywhere.