Characteristics of messages in Spanishlanguage vaping messages about vaping shared on X (Twitter) social network X (Twitter) (2020-2021)

Resumo

Introduction: X, formerly known as Twitter, is a social media platform where topics of public interest are disseminated, including the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems. This study aims to analyze the characteristics of messages in Spanish about vaping shared on social network X (Twitter). Methods: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional, and correlational study was conducted. Messages in Spanish published on X (Twitter) between March 1, 2020, and September 1, 2021, were retrieved using Twitter's advanced search function with keywords and hashtags related to vaping. Data were collected using Microsoft Excel, and sentiment analysis was performed using the Azure Machine Learning add-in for the program. Descriptive and inferential analysis was carried out using SPSS Version 28 statistical software. Results: A total of 54 messages comprised the complete universe of vapingrelated tweets in Spanish meeting the inclusion criteria during the study period. The messages were predominantly pro-vaping (88.9%) with a positive emotional tone (80.0%), with individual and corporate authors each representing 48.1% of the senders. Notably, no messages from healthcare organizations were identified, and anti-vaping messages with a positive tone represented only 3.6% of the total. A significant positive correlation was found between the use of external links and retweets (r = 0.457; p = 0.001), while significant negative correlations were observed between retweets and message length (r = -0.468; p = 0.001), hashtag use (r = -0.578; p = 0.001), and images (r = -0.425; p = 0.001). Conclusions: Messages about vaping shared on the social network X (Twitter) are disseminated by both individuals and companies, and are characterized by a predominantly pro-vaping stance and a positive emotional tone, favoring the promotion of vaping. The complete absence of healthcare organizations as broadcasters and the minimal presence of anti-vaping messages with a positive emotional tone reveal a significant gap in public health communication in this digital space.

Referências

Beard, T. A., Donaldson, S. I., Unger, J. B., & Allem, J.-P. (2024). Examining Tobacco-Related Social Media Research in Government Policy Documents: Systematic Review.

Nicotine & Tobacco Research: Official Journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 26(4), 421–426. doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntad172
Botero-Rodríguez, F., Marroquín Rivera, A., Leal Jaramillo, A., Cabarique Mendez, C., & Gómez-Restrepo, C. (2019). Sistemas electrónicos de administración de nicotina: ¿una amenaza para el neurodesarrollo de los adolescentes? Universitas Médica, 60(4), 1–8. doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.umed60-4.sean

Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210–230. doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x

Datareportal. (2024). Time spent using social media. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-global-overview-report

De la Peña Sarracén, G. L. (2019). Análisis y detección de odio en mensajes de Twitter Universitat Politècnica de València] URL:.https://riunet.upv.es/entities/publication/ec12a1ad-323f-4555-8f3c-f761b02b772e

Donaldson, S. I., Dormanesh, A., Majmundar, A., Pérez, C., Lopez, H., Saghian, M., Beard, T. A., Unger, J. B., & Allem, J.-P. (2024). Examining the Peer-Reviewed Literature on Tobacco-Related Social Media Data: Scoping Review. Nicotine & Tobacco Research: Official Journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 26(4), 413–420.doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntad186

Evans, W. D., Bingenheimer, J., Cantrell, J., Kreslake, J., Tulsiani, S., Ichimiya, M., D’Esterre, A. P., Gerard, R., Martin, M., & Hair, E. C. (2024). Effects of a Social Media Intervention on Vaping Intentions: Randomized Dose-Response Experiment. Journal of
Medical Internet Research, 26, e50741.doi: 10.2196/50741

Famiglietti, A., Memoli, J. W., & Khaitan, P. G. (2021). Are electronic cigarettes and vaping effective tools for smoking cessation? Limited evidence on surgical outcomes: A narrative review. Journal of Thoracic Disease, 13(1), 384–395.doi: 10.21037/jtd-20-2529 Ghosh, A., Coakley, R. D., Ghio, A. J., Muhlebach, M. S., Esther, C. R., Alexis, N. E., & Tarran, R. (2019). Chronic E-cigarette use increases neutrophil elastase and matrix metalloprotease levels in the lung. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 200(11), 1392–1401. doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201903-0615OC

Jancey, J., Crawford, G., Bowman, E., Wolf, K., Leaver, T., Bialous, S., & McCausland, K. (2024). Perceptions of social media harms and potential management strategies: vaping case study. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 876. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18362-8

Kaslow, J. A., Rosas-Salazar, C., & Moore, P. E. (2021). E-cigarette and vaping product use-associated lung injury in the pediatric population: A critical review of the current literature. Pediatric Pulmonology, 56(7), 1857–1867. doi.org/10.1002/ppul.25384

Klein, E. G., Czaplicki, L., Berman, M., Emery, S., & Schillo, B. (2020). Visual attention to the use of# ad versus# sponsored on e-cigarette influencer posts on social media: A randomized experiment. Taylor & FrancisEG Klein, L Czaplicki, M Berman, S Emery, B SchilloJournal of Health Communication, 2020•Taylor & Francis, 25(12), 925–930. doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2020.1849464

Lee, D. N., Liu, J., Stevens, H., Oduguwa, K., & Stevens, E. M. (2024). Does source matter? Examining the effects of health experts, friends, and social media influencers on young adult perceptions of Instagram e-cigarette education messages. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 258, 111270. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111270

Lim, C. C. W., Sun, T., Vu, G., Chan, G. C. K., & Leung, J. (2024). The underbelly of E-cigarette advertising: regulating online markets on social media platforms. Harm Reduction Journal, 21(1), 105. doi.org/10.1186/s12954-024-01027-5

Liquete Arauzo, L., Pérez Ruiz, E., Marugán de Miguelsanz, J. M., Rodríguez Molinero, L., de Uribe Ladrón de Cegama, F., Ugidos Gutiérrez, M. D., García Cantalapiedra, M. J., & Elizo, A. I. (2017). Riesgo percibido sobre el consumo ocasional de tabaco tradicional y electrónico en adolescentes. Pediatria de Atencion Primaria, 19(74), 127–136. URL https://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?pid=S1139-76322017000200005&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en

Liu, J., Wang, Y., Fabbricatore, J. L., Norton, E., Markey, C. E., McMains, J. T., Worsdale, A., Ye, T., Shi, Z., y Sweet, L. H. (2025). Neural predictors of vaping: Covert emotional engagement versus reactance to overt emotional appeals in vaping prevention message processing. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 68(3), 108194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2025.108194

Ma, H., Kieu, T. K.-T., Ribisl, K. M., y Noar, S. M. (2023). Do vaping prevention messages impact adolescents and young adults? A meta-analysis of experimental studies. Health Communication, 38(8), 1709–1722. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2185578

Mackenzie, D. G., Ong, D. S., & Ashiru-Oredope, D. (2020). World Antibiotic Awareness Week and European Antibiotic Awareness Day, November 2018: An analysis of the impact of Twitter activity. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, 56(6). doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.106209

Martheswaran, T., Shmunes, M. H., Ronquillo, Y. C., & Moshirfar, M. (2021). The impact of vaping on ocular health: a literature review. International Ophthalmology, 41(8), 2925–2932. doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01842-w

McCausland, K., Maycock, B., Leaver, T., & Jancey, J. (2019). The messages presented in electronic cigarette–related social media promotions and discussion: Scoping review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(2). doi.org/10.2196/11953

McCausland, K., Maycock, B., Leaver, T., Wolf, K., Freeman, B., & Jancey, J. (2020). E-cigarette advocates on twitter: Content analysis of vaping-related tweets. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 6(4). doi.org/10.2196/17543

Mitchell, B. G., Russo, P. L., Otter, J. A., Kiernan, M. A., & Aveling, L. (2017). What Makes a Tweet Fly? Analysis of Twitter Messaging at Four Infection Control Conferences. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 38(11), 1271–1276. doi.org/10.1017/ice.2017.170

Navas-Acien, A., Martinez-Morata, I., Hilpert, M., Rule, A., Shimbo, D., & LoIacono, N. J. (2020). Early Cardiovascular Risk in E-cigarette Users: the Potential Role of Metals. Current Environmental Health Reports, 7(4), 353–361. doi.org/10.1007/s40572-020-00297-y

Pérez-Curie, C., & García-Gordillo, M. (2018). Influence politics and “fake” trend on twitter. 21D post-election effects within the procés in Catalonia. Profesional de La Informacion, 27(5), 1030–1040. doi.org/10.3145/epi.2018.sep.07

Ponciano-Rodríguez, G., & Chávez Castillo, C. A. (2020). Efectos en la salud de los sistemas electrónicos de administración de nicotina (SEAN). Revista de La Facultad de Medicina, 63(6), 7–19. doi.org/10.22201/fm.24484865e.2020.63.6.02

Rutherford, B. N., Lim, C. C. W., Cheng, B., Sun, T., Vu, G. T., Johnson, B., Daniel Paul Ashley, Chung, J., Huang, S., Leung, J., Stjepanović, D., Connor, J. P., & Chan, G. C. K. (2023). Viral Vaping: A systematic review and meta analysis of e-cigarette and Tobacco-Related social media content and its influence on youth behaviours and attitudes. Addictive Behaviors, 147, 107828. doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107828

Seiler-Ramadas, R., Sandner, I., Haider, S., Grabovac, I., & Dorner, T. E. (2021). Health effects of electronic cigarette (e‑cigarette) use on organ systems and its implications for public health. Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift, 133(19–20), 1020–1027. doi.org/10.1007/s00508-020-01711-z

Slimi, H., Bounhas, I., & Slimani, Y. (2019). URL-based tweet credibility evaluation. Proceedings of IEEE/ACS International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications, AICCSA, 2019-Novem. doi.org/10.1109/AICCSA47632.2019.9035255

Tahamtan, I., Potnis, D., Mohammadi, E., Miller, L. E., & Singh, V. (2021). Framing of and attention to covid-19 on twitter: Thematic analysis of hashtags. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(9). doi.org/10.2196/30800

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023). Social media and youth mental health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory. Office of the Surgeon General. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf

Wu, J., Benjamin, E. J., Ross, J. C., Fetterman, J. L., y Hong, T. (2025). Health messaging strategies for vaping prevention and cessation among youth and young adults: A systematic review. Health Communication, 40(3), 531–549. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2352284

Zhang, J., Wang, Y., Shi, M., & Wang, X. (2021). Factors driving the popularity and virality of Covid-19 vaccine discourse on Twitter: Text mining and data visualization study. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 7(12). doi.org/10.2196/32814

Zhang, Z., & Ahmed, W. (2019). A comparison of information sharing behaviours across 379 health conditions on Twitter. International Journal of Public Health, 64(3), 431–440. doi.org/10.1007/s00038-018-1192-5

Zheng, X., Li, W., Wong, S. W., & Lin, H. C. (2021). Social media and E-cigarette use among US youth: Longitudinal evidence on the role of online advertisement exposure and risk perception. Addictive Behaviors, 119, 106916. doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106916

Citações

Citações no Crossref

Citações na Scopus

Google Sholar Citações

Citações no Europe PMC