Why not use Facebook to quit the nicotine, LIKE ;P

  We use Facebook for many things, for contacting our friends, for keeping up with the local gossip, for playing games, even for touting for work, and recently they have added the ability to share cash, so why not stop smoking on Facebook too?

  The charity WeQuit has launched a stop smoking programme in partnership with the increasingly popular social networking site to help people give up tobacco in a way that is a bit more interesting than enduring the inevitable withdrawal symptoms in solitary misery.

  “WeQuit is the app that motivates you and your friends to give up smoking and stay smoke free. It tracks your progress, challenges you and your mates, provides useful tips to quit and gives you a friendly nudge in the right direction” says the app blurb.

  So for all the smokers that failed to quit on 10th March, which happened to be national no smoking day, there’s still time to get in on the action and improve not only your own health but possibly the life of your laptop too.

  It’s a fact. Some computer warranties are invalidated if the user is a smoker or if the computer is used in a room where there are smokers. Apple doesn’t like smokers for a start.

  Apparently computer repair guys can tell if a computer has been exposed to cigarette smoke so there must be some evidence left behind in the dark recesses under the hood.

  They say that smoke clogs up ventilation holes and fans and can cause a computer or laptop to overheat.

  They also reckon that cigarette smoke causes a build up of sticky tar on electrical components which then attracts mountains of dust, which will eventually cause these components to fail.

  It causes discoloration of your computer and keyboard, messes up the motherboard and causes hassles for your hard drive.

  Now what isn’t clear is whether or not it is just the smoking that causes some of the computer problems or if they would have happened anyway.

  Regardless, smoking is becoming increasingly socially unacceptable so if you are feeling under pressure to quit then using a social networking site to help you might prove a bit more effective than a nicotine patch or a fake fag. At least you won’t feel alone.

  Failing that you can always join a smoker’s united group, on Facebook of course, and campaign for the right to puff away in freedom.