We have all seen them. We have all been confronted by them. We have all been them!

The term sleepwalker has evolved into something new and almost as scary and disturbing…TEXTWALKING! People who walk and text without paying attention to the things around them until they are confronted by them.

The term textwalker is becoming more popular everyday as we evolve into a society that is addicted to our technology.  We can’t leave our smartphones anywhere without feeling alone or like we are missing out something.  Ask yourself when the last time you went on a date without your phone was? How often are we being pulled away from physical living to our virtual worlds?

There are rumors and Photoshop pictures circling the internet (one below) displaying an iPhone with a camera on-top of the device with a tiny video displayed (when they choose) to show what is in front of you while textwalking. I think this would be an interesting idea, but am not too confident that these rumors are true. Creative though!

An ITN News video in the U.K. shows that, “some London pedestrians have become so preoccupied with e-mailing and text messaging on their BlackBerrys and cell phones that they can’t make it down a city block without crashing into lampposts or trash bins. One of the most hazardous streets for “walking while texting,”  is East London’s busy Brick Lane, lined with trendy boutiques and curry shops, where people have been filmed walking head down, ricocheting off various stationary sidewalk objects. The solution? Wrap Brick Lane’s lampposts with fluffy, white rugby goalpost cushions.”

I admit that I fall victim to textwalking all of the time. I also admit that it has almost killed me once. So why do we continue to do it? Our need to constantly communicate, post, pin, tag, check-in is our way of validating ourselves and communicating to everyone following us that we are interesting. Everyone has something to say, something to share and naturally it can’t wait. Why..because it doesn’t have to.  Has it become more interesting to be engaged virtually rather than presently? Take for instance this video below that went viral. What could be more important than being present on your wedding day during the ceremony….texting about it!

As we become more addicted to our devices and letting people know where we are, what we are doing and how we are doing it, we shouldn’t forget that in order to live we must be present. Facebook’s new Timeline update, as much as people hate it right now, will be the prime example of how much time we spent documenting our lives instead of living them.

Let’s not forget textwalking and running into a bear. Apparently a common thing these days….

Justin OCD Klosky