How bloggers can stop smoking and save lives with social media by Laura Luxton
Working with Frank PR for No Smoking Day 2010 we’ve created a Facebook application called WeQuit that’s been specially designed to harness the power of social media to help people give up smoking.
It’s never easy to quit when you’re alone, and with people increasingly using Facebook to keep in touch with friends from all around the world, why not let these friends help you to quit smoking?
Whilst most quit smoking aids are only applicable if you’re a smoker, WeQuit takes a unique new angle by getting non-smokers directly involved. The app is designed to let people challenge friends or themselves to give up smoking in a way that feels fun – you can create custom challenges to help encourage a quit attempt by making your own rewards for success, forfeits for failure, or even pledging money to charity. We’ve also taken inspiration from social media videogames, including medals and awards to unlock as you progress to remind yourself and your friends how you’re progressing with your quit attempt.
The aspect of the application that we feel is unique however, is the fact that it takes advantage of accountability – people are often very conscious about how they appear to others on Facebook, so after they’ve publically pledged give up smoking by accepting a friend’s challenge, hopefully the thought of losing face by failing to quit will act as a really helpful motivator when giving up smoking, acting as a really useful tool to help people finally kick the habit! To keep up this communication, each WeQuit user has a ‘wall of Fame and Shame’ for friends to add comments and photos to, to keep them motivated – and a little more accountable!
If you have a blog and are interested in the cause, why not add a link to WeQuit so your readers can participate, and add #WeQuit to your own experiences on twitter. Social media really is the new frontier of helping to improve everyone’s health.
You can find out more about WeQuit, and try it out yourself by going to www.WeQuit.co.uk/facebook – for more information on No Smoking Day and tips on how to give up smoking, check out www.WeQuit.co.uk.
post from Laura Luxton, PR & Marketing Manager of No Smoking Day
4 comments on “How bloggers can stop smoking and save lives with social media by Laura Luxton”
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Quitting smoking via social media. Hmmm, I really like this idea. I used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day myself, and one of the best lifestyle choices I’ve ever made was to quit. It wasn’t easy, and receiving support from people in the same space definitely will make things easier for wannabe quitters.
That is a brilliant idea to help people stop smoking. Keeping former smokers and non smokers in the loop, and allowing a way to show social approval for remaining a non smoker is a powerful motivator. Kudos on this app.
The quit smoking campaign MUST continue because alot of our people seem to be prone to addiction.
So we need to keep telling of the effect of smoking and the relevant harmful effect to their health
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