Texting Might Be Changing the Way You Do This Everyday Activity
It’s crazy to think that texting used to be something only a few people did. These days, it lets you do everything from shop to make coffee (yes!). But while texting has become an inevitable part of our daily lives, it’s also become something that changes our behaviors. According to Business Insider, texting — or anything like video browsing, posting status updates, etc — can change the way we walk.
A study at the universities of Bath and Texas discovered that while walking and texting, we automatically adapt our pace and stride to accommodate for the distractions we face while looking at our phones. We slow down, weave, tip and do everything that’s pretty much expected given the circumstances.
Not surprisingly, texting and walking also leads to poor posture and unstable balance, which has resulted in some places taking pretty extreme measures. At Utah Valley University, the school has installed a designated texting-while-walking lane in their student center to help non-texters skip past any texters who might be lagging.
This isn’t anything new, though — pedestrian lanes have also been installed in places ranging from China to Belgium. Hey, all you texters out there: Stay safe!
If you text while walking, does it make you slow down? Tell us in the comments!
(Photos via Pete and Roberto Trombetta/Flickr)
