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That social accountability is the basis for DietBet, a weight-loss-wager website that launched Dec. 19…DietBet founder Jamie Rosen says users can send messages encouraging one another and track progress through an online scoreboard. "It becomes this fun social experience that's the opposite of what people think of dieting," he says. "It's not lonely or solitary." Read the full article.

DietBet.com is the latest site on the scene with the motto of "Lose weight with friends while taking their money." It launched in December and already has hundreds of people signed up in various contests. "Ours is not winner-take-all like 'The Biggest Loser' show," said founder Jamie Rosen. "Anyone who reaches their goal at the end of a four-week challenge splits the pot. It doesn't matter who crosses the finish line first. We're not making this like a gambling pool, but actually trying to help people lose weight." Read the full article.

Enter DietBet, a new social media game and website where people compete to see who can lose a given amount of weight in a four-week period with a cash prize as their reward. "We think it's a tool for dieters to get motivated and have fun," said Tina Basle, vice president of strategic alliances at DietBet. "People are keen to get fit and lose weight and keen to engage socially with one another." "No one is going to put their kid through college using DietBet, the main focus is on dieting," Basle said. "If you're a gambler, go to Vegas." Read the full article.

While it seems extreme and a little faddish, a popular way of dieting sweeping the internet is by registering on a betting site such as DietBet and FatBet and competing against your friends over who will get to the target weight first in a set amount of time. Money is involved, which is always a good motivator. In fact, a 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that those in a weight-loss incentive group (where a cash deposit was added) were not only more likely to lose weight they were also more likely to keep the weight off - after seven months those in the incentive groups weighed substantially less than they did at the start of the study, while the control group did not. Read the full article.