Whoop launches a social network that verifies users through their heartbeat

• Whoop began rolling out Humans on November 12, linking accounts to people wearing its fitness trackers
• Members can share selected data on sleep, recovery, workouts and performance achievements
• Privacy controls allow users to manage followers, hide sensitive activities and keep personal photos private

WHOOP said the feature is available to members across all subscription tiers at no additional cost. Unlike conventional social media platforms, which allow users to publish text-based status updates, Humans is built around information recorded by the company's wearable devices.

Members can follow friends and family, view the health and performance information they choose to share, and interact with updates through comments and reactions. The idea is to make fitness progress more social while allowing users to encourage one another and stay connected.

The launch also expands WHOOP's existing community features. Its Teams function, which brings members together through groups and leaderboards, will remain available. The company said 57 per cent of its members already belong to at least one WHOOP Team. Humans is intended to make those connections more personal, allowing people to follow individuals directly rather than joining a shared group.

WHOOP founder and chief executive Will Ahmed said the company wanted to offer a different kind of online experience as artificial intelligence-generated content and automated accounts become more common.

"In a world that's becoming increasingly artificial, we're building something deeply human," Ahmed said. He described Humans as "the most verifiably human network ever launched", adding that every account represented a real person with a verified heartbeat.

How does WHOOP Humans work, and what about privacy?

The feature introduces Moments, which allows members to attach photographs and personal notes to workouts, milestones and other experiences. This gives users a way to share the story behind their fitness data rather than simply displaying performance scores.

For example, a member could share a photograph from a running event alongside workout information, allowing friends to see the achievement and its context. Users can also keep Moments private.

Privacy is a central part of the feature because the information involved can reveal details about a person's physical condition and daily routines.

Members can choose which metrics to share, including Sleep, Recovery, Strain, heart-rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate. They can also decide which workout categories and achievements appear on their profiles, manage their followers and remove people from their networks.

WHOOP has introduced a Stealth Mode that temporarily hides shared health and performance information without requiring members to change their existing preferences. Activities marked as sensitive are excluded from sharing by default, while users can keep photographs and Moments private.

The company also says members can update their sharing settings whenever they want. It maintains that it does not sell or monetize members' personal health data.

The launch comes as wearable technology companies look beyond individual health monitoring to build services that encourage members to remain engaged with their platforms.

WHOOP says it has more than three million members worldwide, and that users open its app more than eight times a day on average. Adding a social layer could give members another reason to use the platform beyond checking their daily fitness scores.

However, the company's claim that every account is verified through a heartbeat does not, by itself, establish that every photograph, interaction or piece of shared content is authentic. The model also raises questions about how comfortable users will be making personal health information visible to friends and family.

For WHOOP, the challenge will be to turn the appeal of a human-verified network into meaningful connections without making users feel pressured to share information they would otherwise keep private.