Tweeting for and Against Public Health Policy: Response to the Chicago Department of Public Health's Electronic Cigarette Twitter Campaign

Harris, Jenine K.; Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Choucair, Bechara; Mansour, Raed; Staub, Mackenzie; Simmons, Kendall W

doi:10.2196/jmir.3622

Cited by 136 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Similar trends of Twitter conversations dominated with pro–e-cigarette content have been detected in response to e-cigarette educational campaigns and announcements of e-cigarette regulations [39,40]. Our findings, which mirror these trends of countercampaigns and antipolicy Twitter bombing to flood conversations with one perspective [39,40], highlight the pressing need for public health professionals to engage the public on social media.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

E-Cigarette Social Media Messages: A Text Mining Analysis of Marketing and Consumer Conversations on Twitter

Lazard¹,

Saffer²,

Wilcox³

et al. 2016

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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BackgroundAs the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) rises, social media likely influences public awareness and perception of this emerging tobacco product.ObjectiveThis study examined the public conversation on Twitter to determine overarching themes and insights for trending topics from commercial and consumer users.MethodsText mining uncovered key patterns and important topics for e-cigarettes on Twitter. SAS Text Miner 12.1 software (SAS Institute Inc) was used for descriptive text mining to reveal the primary topics from tweets collected from March 24, 2015, to July 3, 2015, using a Python script in conjunction with Twitter’s streaming application programming interface. A total of 18 keywords related to e-cigarettes were used and resulted in a total of 872,544 tweets that were sorted into overarching themes through a text topic node for tweets (126,127) and retweets (114,451) that represented more than 1% of the conversation.ResultsWhile some of the final themes were marketing-focused, many topics represented diverse proponent and user conversations that included discussion of policies, personal experiences, and the differentiation of e-cigarettes from traditional tobacco, often by pointing to the lack of evidence for the harm or risks of e-cigarettes or taking the position that e-cigarettes should be promoted as smoking cessation devices.ConclusionsThese findings reveal that unique, large-scale public conversations are occurring on Twitter alongside e-cigarette advertising and promotion. Proponents and users are turning to social media to share knowledge, experience, and questions about e-cigarette use. Future research should focus on these unique conversations to understand how they influence attitudes towards and use of e-cigarettes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

E-Cigarette Social Media Messages: A Text Mining Analysis of Marketing and Consumer Conversations on Twitter

Lazard¹,

Saffer²,

Wilcox³

et al. 2016

JMIR Public Health Surveill

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A study of the Chicago Department of Public Health's anti-e-cigarette Twitter campaign found a high volume of tweets against the campaign 3. Most of those tweets originated from e-cigarette companies and advocacy groups outside of Chicago or Illinois 3.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequently, state/local health departments have produced education campaigns to increase awareness about the potential health risks of e-cigarette use 3. Social media platforms, like Twitter, present opportunities for health departments to disseminate information 4–7.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Campaigns and counter campaigns: reactions on Twitter to e-cigarette education

et al. 2016

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Background Social media present opportunities for public health departments to galvanise interest in health issues. A challenge is creating content that will resonate with target audiences, and determining reactions to educational material. Twitter can be used as a real-time surveillance system to capture individuals’ immediate reactions to education campaigns and such information could lead to better campaigns in the future. A case study testing Twitter’s potential presented itself when the California Department of Public Health launched its ‘Still Blowing Smoke’ media campaign about the potential harmful effects of e-cigarettes. Pro-e-cigarette advocacy groups, in response, launched a counter campaign titled ‘Not Blowing Smoke’. This study tracked the popularity of the two campaigns on Twitter, analysed the content of the messages and determined who was involved in these discussions. Methods The study period was from 22 March 2015 to 27 June 2015. A stratified sampling procedure supplied 2192 tweets for analysis. Content analysis identified pro, anti and neutral e-cigarette tweets, and five additional themes: Marketing Elements, Money, Regulation/propaganda, Health, and Other. Metadata were analysed to obtain additional information about Twitter accounts. Results ‘Not Blowing Smoke’ was referenced more frequently than ‘Still Blowing Smoke’ on Twitter. Messages commonly objected to government regulation of e-cigarettes, refuted claims that e-cigarette manufactures were aligned with big tobacco, and touted the health benefits of e-cigarette use. E-cigarette companies and vape shops used campaign slogans to communicate with customers on Twitter. Conclusions Findings showed the time dynamics of Twitter and the possibility for real-time monitoring of education campaigns.

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“…A fast-paced arena makes single-platform studies very narrow and difficult to generalize, as more of the population continues using multiple social networking sites [20]. Additionally, public health campaigns have begun utilizing social networking sites as a platform for their causes, although not always with the desired outcomes [24]. As researchers, we must be able to adapt to the changing landscape of social media tools.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronic Cigarette Marketing Online: a Multi-Site, Multi-Product Comparison

Chu¹,

Sidhu²,

Valente³

2015

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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BackgroundElectronic cigarette awareness and use has been increasing rapidly. E-cigarette brands have utilized social networking sites to promote their products, as the growth of the e-cigarette industry has paralleled that of Web 2.0. These online platforms are cost-effective and have unique technological features and user demographics that can be attractive for selective marketing. The popularity of multiple sites also poses a risk of exposure to social networks where e-cigarette brands might not have a presence.ObjectiveTo examine the marketing strategies of leading e-cigarette brands on multiple social networking sites, and to identify how affordances of the digital media are used to their advantage. Secondary analyses include determining if any brands are benefitting from site demographics, and exploring cross-site diffusion of marketing content through multi-site users.MethodsWe collected data from two e-cigarette brands from four social networking sites over approximately 2.5 years. Content analysis is used to search for themes, population targeting, marketing strategies, and cross-site spread of messages.ResultsTwitter appeared to be the most frequently used social networking site for interacting directly with product users. Facebook supported informational broadcasts, such as announcements regarding political legislation. E-cigarette brands also differed in their approaches to their users, from informal conversations to direct product marketing.ConclusionsE-cigarette makers use different strategies to market their product and engage their users. There was no evidence of direct targeting of vulnerable populations, but the affordances of the different sites are exploited to best broadcast context-specific messages. We developed a viable method to study cross-site diffusion, although additional refinement is needed to account for how different types of digital media are used.

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Tweeting for and Against Public Health Policy: Response to the Chicago Department of Public Health's Electronic Cigarette Twitter Campaign

Cited by 136 publications

References 54 publications

E-Cigarette Social Media Messages: A Text Mining Analysis of Marketing and Consumer Conversations on Twitter

E-Cigarette Social Media Messages: A Text Mining Analysis of Marketing and Consumer Conversations on Twitter

Campaigns and counter campaigns: reactions on Twitter to e-cigarette education

Electronic Cigarette Marketing Online: a Multi-Site, Multi-Product Comparison

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