For decades social networks have been the best way to quit smoking. 12 step programs, support groups, organized religion. The innate human drive to belong to groups is not a new concept. What is new is the virtualization of these groups.
Addiction treatment is going online. Cancer survivor groups too. The lack of proximity, while a hindrance, is no longer insurmountable. This, again, is nothing new. Additionally, a study also pointed out that online social networks seem to be grouping certain health problems together surreptitiously. These might be heart disease or obesity. These aren’t people seeking out other cardiac patients, but instead, it is a condition that is endemic to certain self selected networks of individuals online without regard to their health.
Current thinking places health issues like obesity and heart disease at the crossroads of lifestyle/environment and genetics. This would imply that these groups are forming for one of these two reasons (or a combination of the two).
In a completely unrelated article, the question of why are some nations taller than others was explored. I don’t want to ruin it, but they aren’t particularly certain. Most of the common sense answers don’t have data to back them up. Diet seems to make a difference, health and disease makes a difference, GNP makes a difference. None, on its own truly satisfy the question. Not to ruin the article (it is a fun read by the way), but there isn’t a specific consensus on why heights of nations move in sync, but they do. That is to say, that people tend to be roughly as tall as their society, give or take. And, that the population, as a whole, varies in hight relative to other populations over time. It is not genetic, as immigrants can assimilate rapidly to their societies’ heights. So it would seem to be a combination of genetic and lifestyle/environmental factors.
If God is love and Love is Blind. Ray Charles is God. Using a related logic, Is it possible that virtual social networks could create profound physiological changes of groups relative to each other? How much of it is a self fulfilling prophecy and how much is epigenetic?
