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Smoke website strengths

            The layout of the website is exceedingly simple. The designers placed only the important links that were required in determining the smoking IQ of an individual on the home page. The other relevant links are also centrally placed and have a hover effect that many users cannot miss. The website also employed the use of inviting colors that draw focus to important parts of the page. The four main features of the website, the IQ Test, Smoke-o-Scope, E-Card and other links were very informative, precise and interconnected such that when a user was on one tab, he could easily navigate around the other tabs. The questionnaires on Tobacco IQ and Smoke-o-Scope were also short but detailed.

Weaknesses

            The website had the relevant material about displaying the consequences of smoking and the smoking status of an individual, but they were displayed in a casual way that had little or no impact to smokers. The use of “Joe Chemo’ the smoking camel was a misjudgment as the site seems like one that the younger generation would access. The older people who investigate smoking advice on the Internet would not consider the site useful. The website also misses critical health information such as the physical effects and the various organs that are affected by smoking.

The Joe Chemo website was an innovation that chose a path with few smoking campaigns. The efficacy of the anti-smoking campaign on the internet was somewhat more effective as compared to billboard advertisements and television advertisements. This is because it targets the youth specifically who stand the highest risk of getting addicted to cigarettes and other substances. Most advertisements and campaigns in the mass media have the opposite effect and instead increase the prevalence of smokers within certain populations, for example, in the 1990s, an increase in the anti-smoking advertising resulted in the increase of smoking among African-American population. Television and radio have also succeeded in increasing the number of underage smokers, as they did not target a group and lacked a developed message (Emmanuel et al, 2009).

The website is more effective in preventing non-smokers from indulging in cigarettes than getting smokers to quit cigarettes. This is because the website has many self-evaluation tools that may influence someone who has not yet been gravely affected by cigarettes. People who are deeply addicted to smoking may see the website as having content that condemns their behavior and may shun its advice. On a personal level, the website was a good effort at attempting to reduce the numbers of young people who were considering smoking. Born in 1977, I consider myself among this category. The test granted me insight and encouragement not to start smoking as I got an almost perfect score of 7. I felt that most of the youth were educated enough to take the different tests in the website and comprehend the results as either being positive or negative. I also appreciated the wholesome approach that smoking had on the environment, animals and other industries.

The website was useful, but certain improvements could be included to make the realization of their objective. First, the visual layout of the website should be revamped, and a more elaborate and official look should be adopted. This will ensure that all characters that need to inquire on anything about smoking can consider the website as being serious. The “Joe Chemo” camel theme should also be replaced with a more relevant theme. The website developers should also include more medical facts from certified health institutions to make their case more sincere and urgent. In terms of helping smokers quit cigarettes, the websites can also include stories of people who had similar addictions and how they overcame them. Finally, the website should increase its sources and links that direct users to helpful resources such as rehabilitation center contacts, hospital contacts and other medical institutions contacts. 

References

Emmanuel R., Adamson S. M. and Seter S. (2009) Current cigarette smoking among in-school American youth. International Journal for equity in Health, 8:10. Retrieved from http://www.equityhealthj.com/content/8/1/10