PEERtrainer

PEERtrainer, Inc

Type	Private
Founded	August 2004
Headquarters	New York, New York, U.S.
Key people	Habib Wicks, Founder Jacqueline Wicks, Founder
Services	Weight Loss
Website	www.peertrainer.com

PEERtrainer is a social networking website that aims to help people lose weight. It is based on the idea that social support is the most important factor in weight loss. Development on the website began in August 2004; it was launched in October 2005. The potential of the company's health oriented social networking platform has generated interest from leading healthcare firms.^[1] PEERtrainer's says its membership has reached more than 900,000 since its launch in 2005.^[2]

Groups

PEERtrainer's social support network centers around four-person user groups with common interests. The website is used as a way to reinforce habits among members by facilitating peer-to-peer support within these groups.^[3] Some individuals that take part in other dieting programs, such as Weight Watchers, have begun to integrate PEERtrainer's online support groups to help them stay on track.^[4]

Media coverage

In May, 2007, a PEERtrainer member was pictured on the cover of People for her weight loss success story,^[5] and featured on Good Morning America.^[6] The company was ranked "Best in Class" in the Health category of the SEOmoz 2007 Web 2.0 Awards^[7] and written about by The New York Times.^[8] The NBC San Francisco Bay Area affiliate TV show TechNow! aired its segment on PEERtrainer in May, 2006.^[9]

References

1. ^ Stromberg, Chloe (April 30, 2007). "How Consumers Use Social Computing For Health". Forrester Research, Inc. pp. 6–7 
2. ^ De Avila, Joseph (2007-10-10). "The Social-Networking Diet". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119197125600554047.html. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 
3. ^ Gupta, Shankar (2005-10-04). "New Diet Site Leverages Social Networking". Media Post Publications. http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=34772&Nid=15812&p=318137. Retrieved 2007-07-17. 
4. ^ Noe, Eric (2006-01-06). "Can Social Networking Help Dieters?". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Atio/story?id=1450186. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
5. ^ "Weight loss success story on PEOPLE magazine". PEERtrainer.com. http://peertrainer.com/CS/blogs/elles_blog/archive/2007/05/22/8310.aspx. Retrieved 2007-06-14. 
6. ^ Murtagh, Heather. "Meet a Weight Loss Icon". San Mateo Daily Journal. http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=75230. Retrieved 2007-06-14. 
7. ^ "SEOmoz.org's Web 2.0 Awards". SEOmoz.org. http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/short. Retrieved 2007-06-13. 
8. ^ Marriott, Michel (2005-11-17). "A Virtual Environment for Shedding Pounds". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/technology/circuits/17peer.html?ei=5090&en=029373bf8bcf29cc&ex=1289883600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2007-07-17. 
9. ^ "Online Support Groups For Diet, Diet Help, Weight Loss and Fitness". PEERtrainer.com. http://www.peertrainer.com/HowItWorks.aspx. Retrieved 2007-07-26. 

External links

• Official web site