September 28, 2011  In a groundbreaking survey studying the impact of online applications and social community support on health habits, the University of Southern California’s Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) and the USC Center for Body Computing (CBC) recently released results from a study examining their impact on smoking cessation. The study showed great promise for the positive impact social online community support can have in creating healthy habits. Over twice as many users who succeeded at quitting smoking found benefits from being a part of a focused social network, as well as having access to interaction with that community at any time they needed it. More than 80% of successful users “received continuous positive feedback” and thought it “was always there when they needed it.” “People who were successful saw value in what they perceived as a more focused social networking group whose common goal was to quit smoking,” said Elizabeth Fife, CTM’s Associate Director of Research who conducted the study. The study showed people were successful with the application because of community support from similarly motivated users sharing the same experience.

For More Information:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/usc-center-for-body-computing-cbc-and-usc-institute-for-communication-technology-management-ctm-find-potential-in-social-media-health-tools-2011-09-23