Want To Quit Smoking?… Join A Social Network

Humans have always been social creatures. If you isolate someone from the company of other people, it can have a traumatic effect on their psyche. The entire survival of our species depends on our interactivity with others. So, should it be a surprise that online social networks would have an impact on our thinking, and way of being?

Facebook and MySpace, are the two major social networks, and millions of people have profiles associated with these sites. They are used as a means to reach out and communicate with others on a level never dreamed before. If you want to meet someone that lives thousands of miles away, it’s possible with social networks. But could the use of social networks spill over into our physical existence?

In an article by Rob Stein, of The Washington Post (via MSNBC), it looks as though Social Networking can have more of a direct influence over people than originally anticipated.

In a study by, Nicholas A. Christakis, and James H. Fowler, a sociologist and political scientist, said that obesity was spreading through social networking. To see if this trend carried into other lifestyle changes, they looked at smoking. It was found that people were immensely effected by others to make their decision to quit smoking or not. People who had never had physical contact with the other, were effecting their choice to kick their habit or not.

For better or worse, humans will continue to be effected by the actions of others. While quitting smoking is a very noble feat, there are other trends that we could just as easily not want to be spread through social networking.