What works, and what needs to change?
The presence of vaping on social media has huge benefits to raise awareness. Tobacco harm reduction and vaping advocacy can have platforms that reach millions of smokers worldwide. But, the presence of vaping on social media also has its downsides. Often youths can view this content and it also provides a platform for biased anti-vape propaganda. Let’s take a closer look as we further explore these points.
The reach and influence of social media.
4.76 billion people use social media, with the average user spending 147 minutes a day viewing, tweeting and posting. That’s a 163% increase in daily usage since 2012.
57% of users report using social media as their main source of news and a whopping 75% use them to research brands.
With social media platforms having so much reach, they’re obviously going to have an impact on people’s views and opinions. What’s more is that these are accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Plus, with smartphones allowing access to social media, users can view content wherever they are.
These sites host a platform for responsible vapers to share the messages that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking. This has the potential to reach nearly all of the 1.3 billion smokers worldwide. On the flip side they can be host to misinformation, anti-vape propaganda and the targeting of youth and non-smokers.
Advantages of vaping on social media.
The presence of vaping on social media carries several benefits. The first is the potential to raise awareness of the health benefits of vaping vs smoking. Vaping is 95% safer than smoking. In 2020 the National Cancer Institute Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) revealed that only 9.9% of those interviewed knew the truth. A shocking 66% thought that vaping was just as harmful or worse than smoking.
Worldwide, smoking and related illness kills over 7 million people per year. It causes cancers, strokes, heart disease, lung disease and diabetes. If people are not aware of a safer alternative, it will keep causing the death of millions. But, that’s where vaping on social media can help. Because the reach is so extensive, we can make many smokers aware of the real facts and show them scientific evidence. With responsible promotion, vaping can change lives.
Quitting smoking can be hard, and is much more successful with support from friends, family and professionals. But, if your family have never smoked then they might not understand what a quitter is going through. The existence of vaping communities online provides a place where those quitting can go to seek advice or help from those who have experienced it before. Even the NHS recommend joining the Smokefree Quit Smoking Support Group Facebook Page.
Pages that support vaping can also serve as an excellent platform to dispel the numerous sources of misinformation found online. Vaping advocates can use facts and studies to counteract the bias campaigns that damage the intent and goals of using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.
Disadvantages of vaping on social media.
While there are advantages to vaping related content being on social media, there are naturally downsides too. Probably the biggest problem is the misinformation that is spread using popular sites like Facebook. Truth Initiative are a very active anti-vaping group that have a presence across most of the key social media platforms. They post constantly and have launched numerous campaigns against vaping. One example of this is when they compared being addicted to nicotine to being possessed. The outlandish claims made by this group, and others like it, are devastating to potential new vapers.
There is also a problem with advertising vapes on social media. In the UK, vape companies should abide by the rules set out in the TRPR. However, these rules do not bind other countries, so they can advertise vaping however they like. This leads to the exposure of non-vapers to possibly enticing content. The appealing nature of these ads can, unfortunately, lead to none smokers starting to vape. One audience that can stumble across these advertisements are children and teens.
Youth vaping and social media.
Youth vaping is a hot topic, with teens as young as 11 having tried an e-cig. While retailers need to be held responsible for underage sales, advertising plays a part. Ads that feature bright colours and sweet flavours should not be visible by a younger audience.
But, it isn’t just vape companies that are responsible for appealing to minors. As highlighted by vaping advocate Charles A. Gardner, PhD. Truth Initiative used an online campaign where they showed puppets vaping, as can be seen in this image. While the message of the video was clearly anti-vape, it still used a medium that is associated with children.
If vaping groups need to abide by strict laws and rules, then so do anti-vape organisations.
Age restricting the content could make it un-viewable to underage users. But, if all content related to vaping becomes age restricted then other controlled substances, such as alcohol, need to follow the same rules. A quick search of “beer” on YouTube revealed countless videos and shorts that aren’t age restricted.
Obstacles to posting on social media.
There are several obstacles to overcome when posting vape related content on social media. Despite being a much safer alternative, vaping is still often treated like smoking. Because of this, the guidelines are tricky to navigate.
When asked about the challenges they face posting content, our social media team said “Tightened AI and bots mean that anything identified as a potential violation on any of the platforms mean that the piece of content can be gone in seconds. Facebook is the strictest platform of them all, despite encouragement to use [e-cigs] by Meta themselves. Anything using a vape related hashtag means that post is silenced”. The guidelines for posting aren’t exactly clear either, with posts being taken down that were compliant with the little guidance that is available.
We found this especially true on TikTok, where several of our posts were removed with no specific reason given other than “violation of guidelines”. This content was compliant and probably removed by a bot. Luckily after appealing, the videos were quickly restored.
What needs to change?
In order for vaping to be successful of social media, several things need to change. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’d like to see across all platforms.
Equal content restrictions across all controlled substances.
In order to protect youth viewers from age-restricted products, all such content needs to be blocked from streams and feeds. However, if such a measure were to be implemented, it would need to be a blanket restriction that affects all videos and posts related to nicotine and alcohol. If all controlled substance content were to have a blanket age restriction, it would be a fair way to protect underage users.
Less news bias against vaping.
The media are extremely bias against vaping, even though the UK government is supportive and the NHS actively recommend it as a smoking cessation tool. The media should also recognise this view instead of solely reporting vaping as a killer that’s just as bad as smoking. Spreading more factual information about vaping through news sources might encourage more smokers to quit, while ensuring balance.
Less misinformation about vaping.
Misinformation is rife online. With claims that it contains dangerous amounts of toxic metals and that it can cause lung issues. Biased posts and misleading articles need to stop. But, that’s unlikely to happen when anti-vape advocates are often funded by those with such deep pockets.
Stop algorithms suppressing vape content.
Age-restricting the content would not guarantee that it would appear on the feeds of adult vapers. Currently, social media algorithms suppress all vaping content. If you see vaping content that you like or found useful, make sure you like, follow and comment on it. That helps it break through the algorithm and appear to more people.
TECC on social media.
The Electronic Cigarette Company has a presence on pretty much every social media platform, if you’d like to check out some of our content here’s some links.
In conclusion.
That concludes our look at vaping on social media. These platforms are huge and reach billions of people across the globe. With responsibility and care, they can provide a better space for vapers online. It’s a place where smokers can switch to a safer alternative and receive support from people who share their views. If you take one thing away from this article it should be to not believe everything you read online. If you’re ever in doubt, do your own research. Most information that holds weight will be accompanied by sources and credible research to back up its statements.
