Finally, something completely new to do on the web.
A new site, the very first of its kind, is promising would-be subscribers ‘lifelong revelations’ in exchange for a few seconds of their time each day.
Called meTracker, the site enables users to create customized mini-survey questions, or ‘tracks’, all about themselves and their worlds. Once users have defined their tracks, it takes just a few clicks of their mouse or a few taps on their Apple device to input their responses once a day. The meTracker database stores this daily data and then generates easy-to-read and easy-to-compare charts that trackers review their results with over time.
“It sounds simple enough, but meTracker’s unique ability to let users determine what they track and how they track it is actually a real game changer,” commented site founder, Anthony Philbin. “Think of it as a digital diary, but with some simple analytical benefits that let users understand themselves on entirely new levels.”
As interesting patterns emerge over time in the simple peaks and valleys of their track charts, meTracker suggests users can become conscious of broader cycles and connections in their lives, allowing them to develop a deeper perspective on both who they are and the life they’re really living.
Cognitive and behavioural therapists have long been aware of how multiple influences interact in this way to affect our day-to-day health and well-being. meTracker leverages that knowledge for anyone with an inclination toward self-discovery.
“An arthritis sufferer might track their pain, the local weather and their diet to see what aggravates flare ups,” noted VP Technology, Laura Suchowlansky. “An athlete or gambler could track their streaks and slumps or the factors they think affect their luck. A wife or girlfriend could simply track how often their significant other says “I love you”. The possibilities are really endless.”
meTracker provides categories such as mybody, mymood, mytime, mygoals, etc., to help users organize their tracks. Besides helping individuals help themselves, Philbin stressed the software has tremendous potential for assisting therapeutic treatments and for bringing together communities of users with the same chronic medical conditions or other behavioural traits, allowing them to share tracks and insights.
“We expect that most of our early adopters will be therapeutic professionals, people dealing with chronic medical conditions and users pursuing self improvement goals like relationship improvement, diets or fitness regimens. These groups have the built-in motivation to really seek out and benefit from this tool,” he said.
As the meTracker community grows, Suchowlansky reiterated that it should lead not only to significantly improved levels of personal understanding, but possibly many new collective insights as well.
“We’re used to advice coming from experts—from the top-down,” she remarked. “I want to see what happens from the bottom-up when communities of dieters or diabetics begin to share their results directly in meTracker’s forums. This sharing of tracks and data can only advance our understanding about what makes us all tick.”
You can check meTracker out at www.metracker.com and download the free app for your iPhone or iPad. Trying it out is free for your first month and after that your lifelong revelations will cost you just a dollar per month.
“An arthritis sufferer might track their pain, the local weather and their diet to see what aggravates flare ups. An athlete or gambler could track their streaks and slumps or the factors they think affect their luck. A wife or girlfriend could simply track how often their significant other says “I love you”. The possibilities are really endless.”
“Almost all of us have intuitions about cycles and correlations in our behaviour, our bodies, our relationships and the world around us,” commented meTracker founder, Anthony Philbin. “For instance research clearly shows that men have a regular cycle that affects their mood like clockwork once a month, yet very few of us are aware of that low-point and manage our big decisions or important events away from it.”
Male monthly mood cycles:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53725
The six meTracker categories. The site provides these as suggestions to help new users understand how much they can customize meTracker to their own lives and experiences. Ultimately though, everything a person tracks is 100% up to them:
mybody: Your weight, your diet, your pleasures, your pains. Your stress, your symptoms, your energy, your sleep… Be in touch with your body like never before and learn how so many of these areas affect one another.
mymood: How happy, sad, ecstatic, angry, etc., you’re feeling. Great to better define your monthly mood cycles and help you schedule important meetings and decisions away from those days when you’re not at your best.
mytime: How much you devote yourself to those competing yet important interests in your life, including your family, your friends, your job, your goals, your community—anything you choose. Are you ready to discover what really is most important in your life?
mygoals: Your diet or work-out routine, your studies, your spiritual growth, your relationship, your daily budget— meTracker is unmatched at helping you keep track of your progress with all the things you’ve committed yourself to improving about you and your life.
myworld: Your weather, your workplace, your community. Everything that characterizes your local environment. Chart these external conditions of your day-to-day world and see how they affect you on the inside as well.
mycrew: Why keep track of only yourself when those you care about have such a huge influence on your quality of life as well? Be it your friends, your pets, your kids, your spouse, your boss… meTracker is a great way for you to keep track of their lives and their moods and to see how they influence yours as well.
The meTracker app is available for iPhones and iPads. The introductory version only allows for track answer inputs, while later versions will include the full site experience including track editing and chart views. Users also need to go to the site for now to create their accounts.
