Many of you have asked about sharing workouts with Smart Strength.
The main question is around expiring links.
As you share workouts via Smart Strength, you may notice that the links stop working after some time(unless you change it in your settings).
It's an unusual decision for a company to make in this day and age. We are in the age of oversharing. We are so used to social media enabling public posting by default. Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram make it easy to share your opinions even if you change your mind later. They have each been accused of moving the goalposts to change your privacy settings.
The main question is around expiring links.
As you share workouts via Smart Strength, you may notice that the links stop working after some time(unless you change it in your settings).
It's an unusual decision for a company to make in this day and age. We are in the age of oversharing. We are so used to social media enabling public posting by default. Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram make it easy to share your opinions even if you change your mind later. They have each been accused of moving the goalposts to change your privacy settings.
The default position on any computer, app, website or device is critical in determining how the product will be used. Most people don’t change the default settings. Companies are well aware of this. Google pays Firefox and Apple billions of dollars each year to ensure that they are the first search engine you use.
The default is powerful. It can shape your future whether you are aware of it or not.
Yet, what has this got to do with sharing your workouts with your friends?
When you share a link with a friend to one of your workouts, it’s open to the world temporarily(albeit complicated to find the link). Anyone can view it. We don’t want to force people to sign up to Smart Strength to see your workouts.
Most gym-goers testing the app have previously posted workouts on Instagram, Youtube and even TikTok. Yet, experienced gym-goers forget what it’s like to be a beginner.
Many gym beginners have expressed their fear of embarrassment. They don’t want to post on social media because they are open to mockery. Sharing with Smart Strength aims to be as seamless as possible to share your workout while balancing the need for privacy.
Some users also use Smart Strength to record personal recovery workouts that they would be uncomfortable sharing with anyone except a professional.
So ensuring workouts are private by default protects privacy. Social media companies employ dark UI patterns to trick you into sharing more of your data.
We don’t do that here. Your workouts are your workouts. They are private by default. You are free to enable all future workouts to be public in your settings, or you can toggle workouts off and on your public workout page.
Smart Strength is currently in beta. If you want to give it a go, sign up today to get it free forever.