Student Life texting lane goes viral
Reading Time: 2 minutesJeanette Blain | News Editor | [email protected]
Photos courtesy of UVU Marketing & Communications
A photograph of a staircase in the Student Life and Wellness Center has caught the attention of the world.
After the staircase was divided into three lanes—walk, run and text—a photo was posted on Reddit by user bakesnorlax, May 14, and by UVU student Kyle Gray on Twitter, May 15.
Reddit post by bakesnorlax.
Tweet by Kyle Gray.
My university has added lanes to our stairs pic.twitter.com/0XQXS2UAYI
— Kyle (Seth Hug) Gray (@kylesethgray) May 15, 2015
But, it wasn’t until June 16 that the photo started gaining media momentum. Within 24 hours, the story had been covered by local and national news outlets, including Utah’s Channel 4 News, Fox 13, Time Magazine and MTV, as well as TV stations across the country.
The story soon went global as media outlets in India, including India Times and Zee News picked up the story.
The staircase, which leads to the second floor track and weight room area, was installed by the UVU Marketing and Communications Department, after they were asked to create an environmental graphic that would engage the student body.
“This graphic is obviously more aesthetic than functional, and though we’ve noticed that most texters aren’t actually following the posted lanes, they are enjoying walking to their workout space,” Matt Bambrough, director of creative services, said in a written statement.
“People think it’s really cool,” said Lauren Bell, a hospitality management student who works in SLWC. She said many people have asked her if anyone follows the lanes, but most know it’s just for fun.
Bell said there is also a staircase, which leads to the third floor, with graphics that count calories.
So far, that staircase has not become famous.
This article was changed to add Reddit.com and Twitter.com information and update timeline on June 22, 2015 at 1:18 p.m.