@Article{info:doi/10.2196/41785,
author="Galimov, Artur
and Vassey, Julia
and Galstyan, Ellen
and Unger, Jennifer B
and Kirkpatrick, Matthew G
and Allem, Jon-Patrick",
title="Ice Flavor--Related Discussions on Twitter: Content Analysis",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2022",
month="Nov",
day="30",
volume="24",
number="11",
pages="e41785",
keywords="electronic cigarettes; Twitter; social media; ice flavors; tobacco policy; public health; infodemiology; FDA; tobacco; smoking; vaping; e-cigarette; public",
abstract="Background: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently restricted characterizing flavors in tobacco products. As a result, ice hybrid--flavored e-cigarettes, which combine a cooling flavor with fruit or other flavors (eg, banana ice), emerged on the market. Like menthol, ice-flavored e-cigarettes produce a cooling sensory experience. It is unclear if ice hybrid--flavored e-cigarettes should be considered characterizing flavors or menthol, limiting regulatory action. Monitoring the public's conversations about ice-flavored e-cigarettes on Twitter may help inform the tobacco control community about these products and contribute to the US FDA policy targets in the future. Objective: This study documented the themes pertaining to vaping and ice flavor--related conversations on Twitter. Our goal was to identify key conversation trends and ascertain users' recent experiences with ice-flavored e-cigarette products. Methods: Posts containing vaping-related (eg, ``vape,'' ``ecig,'' ``e-juice,'' or ``e-cigarette'') and ice-related (ie, ``Ice,'' ``Cool,'' ``Frost,'' and ``Arctic'') terms were collected from Twitter's streaming application programming interface from January 1 to July 21, 2021. After removing retweets, a random sample of posts (N=2001) was selected, with 590 posts included in the content analysis. Themes were developed through an inductive approach. Theme co-occurrence was also examined. Results: Many of the 590 posts were marked as (or consisted of) marketing material (n=306, 51.9{\%}), contained positive personal testimonials (n=180, 30.5{\%}), and mentioned disposable pods (n=117, 19.8{\%}). Other themes had relatively low prevalence in the sample: neutral personal testimonials (n=45, 7.6{\%}), cannabidiol products (n=41, 7{\%}), negative personal testimonials (n=41, 7{\%}), ``official'' flavor description (n=37, 6.3{\%}), ice-flavored JUUL (n=19, 3.2{\%}), information seeking (n=14, 2.4{\%}), and comparison to combustible tobacco (n=10, 1.7{\%}). The most common co-occurring themes in a single tweet were related to marketing and disposable pods (n=73, 12.4{\%}). Conclusions: Our findings offer insight into the public's experience with and understanding of ice-flavored e-cigarette products. Ice-flavored e-cigarette products are actively marketed on Twitter, and the messages about them are positive. Public health education campaigns on the harms of flavored e-cigarettes may help to reduce positive social norms about ice-flavored products. Future studies should evaluate the relationship between exposure to personal testimonials of ice-flavored vaping products and curiosity, harm perceptions, and experimentation with these products among priority populations. ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/41785",
url="https://www.jmir.org/2022/11/e41785",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/41785",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36449326"
}