Characteristics of Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Exposure to and Engagement with Nicotine and Tobacco Product Content on Social Media

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant sociodemographic characteristics by nicotine or tobacco product (NTP) use status in a sample of adolescents and young adults surveyed in 2023

	No current NTP use (n = 872)	Current NTP use (n = 291)	Full sample (N = 1,163)
	% (n)
Age (M/SD)***	18.9 (3.5)	21.2 (3.1)	19.5 (3.6)
Race and ethnicity (n = 1,130)
NH White	37.9 (317)	41.3 (121)	38.8 (438)
Hispanic or Latinx	30.5 (255)	30.4 (89)	30.4 (344)
NH Black or African American	18.8 (157)	18.4 (54)	18.7 (211)
NH another race^a	12.9 (108)	9.9 (29)	12.1 (137)
Sex assigned at birth (n = 1,126)
Female	83.8 (702)	79.5 (229)	82.7 (931)
Male	16.2 (136)	20.5 (59)	17.3 (195)
Gender (n = 1,133)
Girl/woman	80.3 (677)	76.6 (222)	79.3 (899)
Boy/man	16.4 (138)	18.6 (54)	16.9 (192)
Non-binary or another gender	3.3 (28)	4.8 (14)	3.7 (42)
Sexual orientation (n = 1,088)***
Straight or heterosexual	72.8 (581)	62.4 (181)	70.0 (762)
Another orientation^b	27.2 (217)	37.6 (109)	30.0 (326)

Note: NH = Non-Hispanic. Differences by NTP use status were examined using a t-test (age) and chi-square tests of independence (remaining variables) and are designated with: *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .0001

^aIncludes American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, multiracial, or another race

^bIncludes asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning or unsure, or another orientation

Table 2. Social media and nicotine or tobacco product (NTP) use characteristics in a sample of adolescents and young adults surveyed in 2023

	No current NTP use (n = 872)	Current NTP use (n = 291)	Full sample (N = 1,163)
	% (n)
Any social media platform use
YouTube	97.2 (844)	95.9 (283)	96.9 (1,127)
TikTok*	86.8 (753)	91.2 (269)	87.9 (1,022)
Instagram*	85.0 (738)	90.2 (266)	86.3 (1,004)
Snapchat***	79.0 (686)	88.5 (261)	81.4 (947)
Pinterest	75.9 (659)	77.3 (228)	76.3 (887)
Facebook***	60.7 (527)	83.4 (246)	66.5 (773)
Twitter***	55.3 (480)	69.8 (206)	59.0 (686)
Discord*	40.9 (355)	48.1 (142)	42.7 (497)
Reddit***	35.0 (304)	55.9 (165)	40.3 (469)
Twitch***	30.5 (265)	45.8 (135)	34.4 (400)
BeReal*	23.5 (204)	30.2 (89)	25.2 (293)
Slack***	9.8 (85)	20.0 (59)	12.4 (144)
Social media daily use frequency
YouTube	60.6 (526)	60.7 (179)	60.6 (705)
TikTok	71.9 (624)	75.3 (222)	72.7 (846)
Instagram	60.0 (521)	63.1 (186)	60.8 (707)
Snapchat**	56.1 (487)	62.4 (184)	57.7 (671)
Pinterest	26.8 (233)	27.1 (80)	26.9 (313)
Facebook***	28.6 (248)	48.1 (142)	33.5 (390)
Twitter***	17.3 (150)	26.4 (78)	19.6 (228)
Discord**	14.7 (128)	12.5 (37)	14.2 (165)
Reddit***	7.4 (64)	14.9 (44)	9.3 (108)
Twitch***	6.8 (59)	10.5 (31)	7.7 (90)
BeReal*	10.1 (88)	10.2 (30)	10.1 (118)
Slack***	3.0 (26)	4.1 (12)	3.3 (38)
Ever NTP use
Never NTP use			55.9 (650)
Any ever NTP use			44.1 (513)
E-cigarettes with nicotine			67.3 (345)
Cigarettes			48.3 (248)
Other combustible NTP^a			51.5 (264)
Other noncombustible NTP^b			24.0 (123)
Current (i.e., past-month) NTP use
No current NTP use			74.6 (868)
Any current NTP use			25.4 (295)
E-cigarettes with nicotine			57.6 (170)
Cigarettes			35.6 (105)
Other combustible NTP^a			34.2 (101)
Other noncombustible NTP^b			14.9 (44)

Note: Differences in any (versus no) social media platform use and daily (versus non-daily or never) social media platform use by NTP use status were examined using chi-square tests of independence and are designated with: *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001

^aIncludes cigars, cigarillos, little cigars, pipe filled with tobacco, hookah/shisha

^bIncludes chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, nicotine pouches, nicotine gummies, IQOS

Table 3. Reported nicotine and tobacco product (NTP) content exposure by NTP use status in a sample of adolescents and young adults surveyed in 2023

	No current NTP use (n = 872)	Current NTP use (n = 291)	Full sample (N = 1,163)
	% (n)
NTP content exposure frequency***
Never	32.7 (284)	11.5 (34)	27.3 (318)
Only once or twice	19.1 (166)	19.3 (57)	19.2 (223)
Every few months to every few weeks	29.3 (254)	31.2 (92)	29.8 (346)
Daily or more	18.9 (164)	38.0 (112)	23.7 (276)
Any exposure	67.3 (584)	88.5 (261)	72.7 (845)
	No current NTP use (n = 584)	Current NTP use	Full sample (n = 845)
		(n = 261)
Content valence (among those with any content exposure, n = 845)
Any “anti-NTP use” content***	79.1 (462)	90.8 (236)	82.7 (698)
Any “pro-NTP use” content***	59.9 (350)	76.9 (200)	65.2 (550)
Content sources (among those with any content exposure, n = 845)
Companies/brands***	42.5 (248)	55.9 (146)	46.6 (394)
Influencers**	40.8 (238)	52.5 (137)	44.4 (375)
Friends***	24.5 (143)	47.9 (125)	31.7 (268)
Acquaintances*	21.1 (123)	29.1 (76)	23.6 (199)
Content format (among those with any content exposure, n = 845)
Posts with pictures	49.5 (289)	53.3 (139)	50.7 (428)
Posts with only text***	18.3 (107)	34.1 (89)	23.2 (196)
Videos or “reels”**	62.2 (584)	72.8 (190)	65.4 (553)
Transient content^a ***	24.8 (145)	38.3 (100)	29.0 (245)

Note: Differences by NTP use status were examined using chi-square tests of independence and are designated with: *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001

^a“Content that goes away after a period of time (e.g., stories, snaps)”

Table 4. Reported nicotine or tobacco product (NTP) content engagement by NTP use status, among those with any NTP content exposure (N = 845) in a sample of adolescents and young adults surveyed in 2023

	No current NTP use (n = 584)	Current NTP use (n = 261)	Full sample (N = 845)
	% (n)
Ever liked, commented on, or shared NTP post***	24.1 (141)	57.9 (151)	34.6 (292)
Only once or twice	40.4 (57)	30.5 (46)	35.3 (103)
Every few months to weeks	41.8 (59)	42.4 (64)	42.1 (123)
At least weekly	17.7 (25)	27.2 (41)	22.6 (66)
Content sources^a
Companies/brands**	27.0 (38)	43.7 (66)	35.6 (104)
Influencers	53.9 (76)	60.3 (91)	57.2 (167)
Friends**	39.0 (55)	56.3 (85)	47.9 (140)
Acquaintances*	24.1 (34)	36.4 (55)	30.5 (89)
Content format^a
Posts with pictures	48.2 (68)	59.6 (90)	54.1 (158)
Posts with only text***	19.1 (27)	41.1 (62)	30.5 (89)
Videos or “reels”	56.0 (79)	61.6 (93)	58.9 (172)
Transient content^b	22.0 (31)	29.1 (44)	25.7 (75)
Ever posted about NTPs***	8.9 (52)	48.5 (126)	21.1 (178)
Only once or twice	55.8 (29)	38.1 (48)	43.3 (77)
Every few months to weeks	30.8 (16)	38.1 (48)	36.0 (64)
At least weekly	13.5 (7)	23.8 (30)	20.8 (37)

Note: Differences by NTP use status were examined using chi-square tests of independence and are designated with: *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001

^aAmong those who ever liked, commented on, or shared NTP content (no current NTP use: n = 141; current NTP use: n = 151; full sample: N = 292)

^b“Content that goes away after a period of time (e.g., stories, snaps)”

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, EAV, upon reasonable request.