Smoking And Social Media: Twitter Might Help Kids Quit The Habit

Social media may help some young adults quit smoking, according to recent findings published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

"These finding suggest that the creators of public health campaigns need to evaluate how they use social media channels and social networks to improve health, especially with regards to younger demographics," said Bruce Baskerville, a senior scientist at the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at Waterloo, who led the study, in a news release.

For the study, researchers at the University of Waterloo compared the success of the social media-based campaign Break It Off with Smokers' Helpline, a telephone hotline for young adults looking to kick the habit.

Three months into the program, the study results showed that roughly 32 percent of smokers who used the Break It Off apps and web tools had quit smoking when compared to roughly 14 percent of peers who used the telephone-based support system.

Break It Off was launched by the Canadian Cancer Society in January 2012 to help engage young adults in smoking cessation through an interactive website and through social media. The way the campaign works is that it compares quitting smoking with ending a romantic relationship by providing the users with an interactive website and smart phone app to help encourage smoking cessation.

"Traditional cessation services can have limited reach and this reduced visibility lessens their impact in a digital era," the researchers added. "Because they are such heavy users of social media, these platforms provide an alternative and successful way of reaching smokers who are less likely to relate to other cessation programs."

This is particularly helpful for young adults in Canada as they hold the highest rate of smoking with low use of traditional cessation services, like helplines.