U of M Employee “Suspected” of Cheating in Fitbit Challenge – Here’s How

At the Taste of Country concert the other night, I had more than one conversation about Fitbit. "How many steps tonight?" "How many steps do you average in a week?" "I work in a (factory, warehouse, hospital) and put on XX,000 steps a week."

I just started wearing a Fitbit about a month ago. My lovely wife was involved in a Fitbit challenge at work and she didn't like her old one - so we got her a new one and I inherited her old one. And, yes - I usually get my 10,000 steps in every day - even after I sit on my butt, yakking on the radio to you every morning.

So, people love their Fitbits. And they love company Fiitbit "step challenges". Some companies offer pretty good prizes for the winners. And, if you turn anything into a competition - people will come up with loopholes.

According to the Wall Street Journal, one University of Michigan employee apparently attached his Fitbit to his dog. (A Chicago based company actually put Fitbits on their dogs and found out dogs log between 13,000 and 30,000 steps a day). Some other cheating tactics? Putting a Fitbit on a ceiling fan or a hamster wheel.

I believe the line they use in the article is "the combustible human combination of competition and deviousness".

Want more? (Not because you would ever cheat - just out of curiosity)

Here's the story.

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