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Introduction Online e-cigarette retailers use e-mail communications to promote products directly to consumers, which may facilitate e-cigarette use. Little is known about the content of these e-mails. As such, this study collected e-mails from online e-cigarette retailers in California to conduct a content analysis. Aims and Methods This study included 13 online e-cigarette retailers in California using Yelp. To be included in the study, e-cigarette retailers needed a live website, physical retail location (ie, vape shop), and e-cigarettes available for purchase online. The research team entered each website and signed up (if possible) for an e-mail newsletter. Data were collected from the Gmail Application Programming Interface over a 1-year study period (November 1, 2021–November 1, 2022). Members of the research team coded e-mails for the presence of e-cigarettes, other products, flavors, marketing categories, and promotional activities, among other variables. Results Seven hundred and forty-nine promotional e-mails (2.1 avg/day) were received over the 1-year study period. Second-generation e-cigarettes (n  = 581, 77.6%) were the most observed product in e-mails followed by disposable e-cigarettes (n  = 391, 52.2%). The most common flavor profile was fruit or sweet or liquor (n  = 424, 56.6%). E-mails included links to social media pages (n  = 366, 48.9%). Online coupons were found in 53.1% (n  = 398) of the e-mails. Age warnings were displayed in 8.0% (n  = 60) of the e-mails. Conclusions E-cigarette retailers' e-mails promoted new products, flavors, and contained promotional discounts. Future research should examine the impact of exposure to such e-mails on e-cigarette-related attitudes and behaviors. Implications Findings from this study may help inform prevention programs and interventions focused on increasing tobacco-related digital media literacy (ie, evaluate tobacco advertising messages on digital media) among gender and ethnic minorities. Future research should examine if exposure to e-mail marketing is causally linked with e-cigarette use among gender and ethnic minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Twitter data have been used to surveil public sentiment about tobacco products; however, most tobacco-related Twitter research has been conducted with English-language posts. There is a gap in the literature on tobacco-related discussions on Twitter in languages other than English. This study summarized tobacco-related discussions in Spanish on Twitter. Methods A set of Spanish terms reflecting electronic cigarettes (eg, "cigarillos electrónicos"), cigarettes (eg, "pitillo"), and cigars (eg, "cigaro") were identified. A content analysis of tweets (n  = 1352) drawn from 2021 was performed to examine themes and sentiment. An initial codebook was developed in English then translated to Spanish and then translated back to English by a bilingual (Spanish and English) member of the research team. Two bilingual members of the research team coded the tweets into themes and sentiment. Results Themes in the tweets included (1) product promotion (n  = 168, 12.4%), (2) health warnings (n  = 161, 11.9%), (3) tobacco use (n  = 136, 10.1%), (4) health benefits of vaping (n  = 58, 4.3%), (5) cannabis use (n  = 50, 3.7%), (6) cessation (n  = 47, 3.5%), (7) addiction (n  = 33, 2.4%), (8) policy (n  = 27, 2.0%), and (9) polysubstance use (n  = 12, 0.9%). Neutral (n  = 955, 70.6%) was the most common category of sentiment observed in the data. Conclusions Tobacco products are discussed in multiple languages on Twitter and can be summarized by bilingual research teams. Future research should determine if Spanish-speaking individuals are frequently exposed to pro-tobacco content on social media and if such exposure increases susceptibility to use tobacco among never users or sustained use among current users. Implications Spanish-language pro-tobacco content exists on Twitter, which has implications for Spanish-speaking individuals who may be exposed to this content. Spanish-language pro-tobacco-related posts may help normalize tobacco use among Spanish-speaking populations. As a result, anti-tobacco tweets in Spanish may be necessary to counter areas of the online environment that can be considered pro-tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Social media data have been used to describe tobacco industry marketing practices, user experiences with tobacco, and youth-oriented protobacco content. Objective Examine the extent to which tobacco-related social media research is cited in government policy documents. Search Methods Peer-reviewed tobacco-related social media studies were searched for on Web of Science, PubMed, and other databases from 2004 to 2022. The DOI number for each identified article was then used to search the Overton database to find policy documents citing such research. A secondary, manual search of national and international governmental agency websites was also conducted. Selection Criteria Documents were included in this study if they were tobacco-related, written in English, cited social media research in the document text and reference section, and were published by a governmental office or agency. Data Collection and Analysis The analytic sample consisted of (n  = 38) government policy documents, and were coded for content themes, agency type, document type, and subsequent citations. Main Results When this research was utilized, it was often in the context of highlighting tobacco industry marketing practices, bringing attention to an issue (eg, youth e-cigarette use), and/or describing how social media platforms can be used as a data source to understand tobacco-related attitudes and behaviors. Agencies that often cited this research were the WHO, FDA, and CDC. The document types included research reports, policy recommendations, industry guidance, legal complaints, and practice-based recommendations. Conclusions Tobacco-related social media research has been utilized by government agencies in the last decade to guide the policy process. Implications Tobacco-related social media research has been used in government policy documents to detail tobacco industry marketing and bring attention to youth exposure to protobacco content online. Continued surveillance of social media may be necessary to track the changing tobacco landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Tobacco researchers have used social media data to examine tobacco industry marketing practices (eg, influencers), and to document user experience with tobacco products. This study summarized the literature that analyzed tobacco-related social media data, including domain, social media platform, tobacco product type, and themes of findings, among other variables. Aims and Methods PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Communication Source were searched between 2004 and 2022. Peer-reviewed articles were included if they were written in English, included at least one tobacco-related term, and one social media-related term, and analyzed a social media post. Two coders screened all-titles and abstracts. The final sample consisted of (n  = 255) articles. Studies were coded for domain, social media platform, tobacco product type, data source, type of data, coding and analytic method, and presence of validation procedure, among other variables. Results A total of 10 504 820 581 tobacco-related social media posts were assessed across 255 studies. User experience (54.1%) and promotion (23.1%) were the most researched domains. Researchers used data from Twitter the most (42.7%). Text (43.1%) was the most common type of data analyzed. Thematic analysis (80.8%) was the most common analytic technique. Themes of findings from content analyses often pertained to the health effects of tobacco use (61.0%) and promotion (44.2%). Conclusions Researchers have analyzed billions of tobacco-related social media posts to describe user experience with, and promotions related to, tobacco products like e-cigarettes on platforms like Twitter. Future research may examine tobacco-related social media data from newer platforms like TikTok. Implications Real-time surveillance of tobacco-related content on social media can keep the tobacco control community abreast of tobacco industry promotional strategies, user experience with tobacco products, and perceived health effects of tobacco use. A framework may be developed to establish best-practices for social media data collection and analysis, including strategies to identify posts from bot accounts and validate methodological approaches used in thematic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned characterizing flavors in cigarettes in 2009, this initial ban exempted menthol. After examining numerous reports on the adverse health effects of menthol cigarettes, the FDA proposed a menthol ban in April 2022. This study analyzed Twitter data to describe public reaction to this announcement. Aims and Methods Posts containing the word "menthol" and/or "#menthol" were collected from April 21, 2022 to May 5, 2022 from Twitter's Streaming Application Programming Interface (API). A random sampling procedure supplied 1041 tweets for analysis. Following an inductive approach to content analysis, posts were classified into one or more of 11 themes. Results Posts discussed the FDA announcement (n = 153, 14.7%), racial discrimination (n = 101, 9.7%), distrust in government (n = 67, 6.4%), inconsistencies between policies (n = 52, 5.0%), public health benefits (n = 42, 4%), freedom of choice (n = 22, 2.1%), and health equity (n = 21, 2.0%). Posts contained misinformation (n = 20, 1.9%), and discussed the potential for illicit markets (n = 18, 1.7%) and the need for cessation support (n = 4, 0.4%). 541 (52.0%) tweets did not fit into any of the prescribed themes. Conclusions Twitter posts with the word "menthol" commonly discussed distrust in government and mentioned racial discrimination. Findings demonstrated the possibility of near real-time Twitter monitoring of public opinion on a menthol ban. These data may be valuable for designing tobacco control health communication campaigns in the future. Implications The U.S. FDA proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes in April 2022. This study's content analyzed Twitter posts over a 2-week period to understand the public's response to the proposed menthol ban. Twitter posts with the word "menthol" often discussed distrust in government and mentioned racial discrimination. Findings demonstrated the possibility of near real-time Twitter monitoring of public opinion of regulatory action. Findings underscore the need to educate the public about the potential health benefits of banning menthol from cigarettes, particularly for populations that experience tobacco-related health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]