[nine_k]

Look at it as at a bad but addictive habit.

Hundreds of millions of smokers do harm their health, and through it their own and their neighbors' wealth. But quitting is indeed hard.

[hk__2]

You can’t seriously compare smoking and keeping up with friends and family, which is the reason that drives most of the usage of Facebook.

[DoreenMichele]

You can’t seriously compare smoking and keeping up with friends and family

You must come from a nice family.

Some people don't. Some people are actively in hiding from their families and things like that.

Some schizophrenics go to in-patient treatment, get better, go home to their nutty relatives and get worse again. This is a known thing.

[ori_b]

> You can’t seriously compare smoking and keeping up with friends and family

You're right: It's easy to smoke outside without harming anyone but yourself -- and even if you smoke indoors, you only harm one room full of people at a time.

[thekyle]

No doubt that smoking is way worse than using Facebook. But using Facebook (and similar sites) can cause mental health issues which should be taken seriously.

[gizmodo59]

I'd argue a gif sent to someone during a heated conversation can make it light and end up funny. This goes for anything that anyone uses. I wouldn't compare this with smoking though.

[meIias]

You know what else could have the same effect? the right set of words. those are untraceable and they take up little bandwidth.