Running for vanity

Now a gadget can help you become the object of envy as a great runner without costing you any sweat. Once powered on, this pendulum-like device will shake your phone and boost your step-count at a rate of 7,000 steps per hour. According to reports, some e-commerce business sold over 25,000 units of this device in a month.

Jogging used to be a common way to keep fit. But more common today is for runners to show off their counts on WeRun, a public account in WeChat. Trumping all your friends and colleagues in the step ranking will surely make one feel good.

Some may rack up steps for more substantial purpose of earning bonus or discounts. A lot of businesses such as financial services companies Ant Financial and Ping An Insurance offer incentives to active WeRun users.

Either way, this step-boosting gadget defeats the point of using a step counter originally meant for tracking people’s physical capability. Prior to this invention there had been plenty of tips on how to inflate your numbers, as by manually shaking your phone or having it strapped to a pet. Now they are probably outshined by this more efficient cheating device.

Some of these tips to trick WeRun may take you to the top of the ranking, impress your friends or win you some coupons, but they will not add to your health, and when the trick becomes general knowledge, we would cease to be impressed by any step counts, even though some might be true.