A study by Joe Phua, an assistant professor of advertising in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, about using social networking websites to quit smoking was featured in a story by Newsweek.
Phua’s study suggests that health-based social networking sites, such as iVillage.com, WhyQuit.com and Inspire.com, create a community environment that helps people abstain from smoking for longer periods of time.
“Social networking sites and other forms of social media can help improve their health conditions,” Phua told Newsweek. “These can be used as a stand-alone way to improve chronic health conditions or as part of a holistic treatment plan that includes both professional offline help and online social media sites.”
