‘I Stopped’ Facebook App Offers New Method To Kick Old Habits

A new method to kick old habits? A new Israeli-Russian Facebook application is trying to harness the power of social media to help people give up bad habits using their friends power of persuasion.

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The service is called “I stopped” and was created by SCORE:plug, founders of the popular dating application Dating-IL. I stopped is based on a simple and smart method called “positive peer pressure”. The method uses the influence and support of family, friends and peers to support a person’s decision to kick addictions and bad habits.

The company claims that over 60 million people in the world today define themselves as addicts, be it a drug addiction, a cigarette addiction, or a gambling addiction. I stopped shares a person’s decision with their Facebook friends, matches them up with others in similar situations, tracks their recovery process and monitors their progress. It will also encourage a little friendly competition between those on the journey to recovery, the  and other addicts on your journey toward recovery, SCORE:plug says.

I Stopped Facebook App

“Commiting to a group helps you get clean and stay clean”

According to SCORE:plug, “the element of sharing and group support has been in the past as being especially effective in kicking addictions, small and large alike. There is a reason AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) has become a huge international organization helping alcoholics and drug addicts worldwide to get clean.”

“Research has shown that a support group has a lot of power, both in spurring its members, as well as in creating a commitment towards the rest of the group members, to get clean and stay clean,” the startup claims.

Tal Melenboim of I stopped explains: “My friend posted a picture of her [smoking rehabilitation group’s] graduation certificate on Facebook, received a lot of responses and likes and these gave her the strength to continue. This app is based on the same principle – you commit in front of everyone you know. This provides you with motivation, but also with a strong commitment to stick to your decision. No one wants to disappoint their friends and loved ones.”

The company says that their app is growing in popularity and so far their Facebook page has reached almost 15,000 “likes”.

Photo by I stopped