Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive Study

BackgroundDespite the public health importance of vaping and the widespread use of TikTok by adolescents and young adults, research is lacking on the nature and scope of vaping content on this networking service. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to describe t...

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Main Authors: Corey H Basch, Joseph Fera, Alessia Pellicane, Charles E Basch
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2021-10-01
Series:JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Online Access:https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2021/4/e30681
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author Corey H Basch
Joseph Fera
Alessia Pellicane
Charles E Basch
author_facet Corey H Basch
Joseph Fera
Alessia Pellicane
Charles E Basch
author_sort Corey H Basch
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundDespite the public health importance of vaping and the widespread use of TikTok by adolescents and young adults, research is lacking on the nature and scope of vaping content on this networking service. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to describe the content of TikTok videos related to vaping. MethodsBy searching the hashtag #vaping in the discover feature, ~478.4 million views were seen during the time of data collection. The first 100 relevant videos under that hashtag were used in this study. Relevance was determined by simply noting if the video was related in any way to vaping. Coding consisted of several categories directly related to vaping and additional categories, including the number of likes, comments, and views, and if the video involved music, humor, or dance. ResultsThe 100 videos included in the sample garnered 156,331,347 views; 20,335,800 likes; and 296,460 comments. The majority of the videos (n=59) used music and over one-third (n=37) used humor. The only content category observed in the majority of the videos sampled was the promotion of vaping, which was included in 57 videos that garnered over 74 million views (47.5% of cumulative views). A total of 42% (n=42) of the 100 videos sampled featured someone vaping or in the presence of vape pens, and these videos garnered over 22% (>35 million) of the total views. ConclusionsIt is necessary for public health agencies to improve understanding of the nature and content of videos that attract viewers’ attention and harness the strength of this communication channel to promote informed decision-making about vaping.
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spelling doaj.art-745b0b8899744fc69e0cee7abe3a15272023-08-28T19:41:59ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Pediatrics and Parenting2561-67222021-10-0144e3068110.2196/30681Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive StudyCorey H Baschhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4862-4229Joseph Ferahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9394-8735Alessia Pellicanehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8220-6584Charles E Baschhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8022-0959 BackgroundDespite the public health importance of vaping and the widespread use of TikTok by adolescents and young adults, research is lacking on the nature and scope of vaping content on this networking service. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to describe the content of TikTok videos related to vaping. MethodsBy searching the hashtag #vaping in the discover feature, ~478.4 million views were seen during the time of data collection. The first 100 relevant videos under that hashtag were used in this study. Relevance was determined by simply noting if the video was related in any way to vaping. Coding consisted of several categories directly related to vaping and additional categories, including the number of likes, comments, and views, and if the video involved music, humor, or dance. ResultsThe 100 videos included in the sample garnered 156,331,347 views; 20,335,800 likes; and 296,460 comments. The majority of the videos (n=59) used music and over one-third (n=37) used humor. The only content category observed in the majority of the videos sampled was the promotion of vaping, which was included in 57 videos that garnered over 74 million views (47.5% of cumulative views). A total of 42% (n=42) of the 100 videos sampled featured someone vaping or in the presence of vape pens, and these videos garnered over 22% (>35 million) of the total views. ConclusionsIt is necessary for public health agencies to improve understanding of the nature and content of videos that attract viewers’ attention and harness the strength of this communication channel to promote informed decision-making about vaping.https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2021/4/e30681
spellingShingle Corey H Basch
Joseph Fera
Alessia Pellicane
Charles E Basch
Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive Study
JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
title Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive Study
title_full Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive Study
title_fullStr Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive Study
title_full_unstemmed Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive Study
title_short Videos With the Hashtag #vaping on TikTok and Implications for Informed Decision-making by Adolescents: Descriptive Study
title_sort videos with the hashtag vaping on tiktok and implications for informed decision making by adolescents descriptive study
url https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2021/4/e30681
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