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Observational Study
. 2022 Jul 15;24(7):e37071.
doi: 10.2196/37071.

Perceptions of Oral Nicotine Pouches on Reddit: Observational Study

Yihan Shao #  1 , Jonathan Zou #  1 , Zidian Xie  2 , Rachel Grana Mayne  3 , Deborah J Ossip  4 , Irfan Rahman  5 , Scott McIntosh  4 , Dongmei Li  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

Perceptions of Oral Nicotine Pouches on Reddit: Observational Study

Yihan Shao et al. J Med Internet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Oral nicotine pouches are a new form of tobacco-free nicotine products launched in recent years with a variety of flavors.

Objective: This study aims to examine the public perceptions and discussions of oral nicotine pouches on Reddit, a popular social media platform for sharing user experiences.

Methods: Between February 15, 2019, and February 12, 2021, a total of 2410 Reddit posts related to oral nicotine pouches were obtained over a 2-year period. After the removal of unrelated or commercial posts, 653 Reddit posts related to oral nicotine pouches remained. Topics and sentiments related to oral nicotine pouches on Reddit were hand coded.

Results: The number of Reddit posts related to oral nicotine pouches increased during the study period. Content analysis showed that the most popular topic was "sharing product information and user experience" (366/653, 56%), in which sharing oral nicotine pouch products and user experiences were dominant. The next popular topic was "asking product-related questions" (product properties and product recommendations; 115/653, 17.6%), followed by "quitting nicotine products" such as vaping or smoking through use of oral nicotine pouches or quitting the oral nicotine pouches themselves (83/653, 12.7%) and "discussing oral nicotine pouch-related health" symptoms or concerns related to oral nicotine pouches (74/653, 11.3%). The least popular topic was "legality and permissions" related to oral nicotine pouches (15/653, 2.3%). In addition, a greater number of Reddit posts described positive attitudes compared to negative attitudes toward oral nicotine pouches (354/653, 54.2% vs 101/653, 15.5%; P<.001).

Conclusions: Reddit posts overall had a positive attitude toward oral nicotine pouches and users were actively sharing product and user experiences. Our study provides the first insight on up-to-date oral nicotine pouch discussions on social media.

Keywords: Reddit; attitude; cessation; content analysis; information seeking; information sharing; nicotine; oral nicotine pouches; perception; public opinion; quit; sentiment; smoker; smoking; social media; tobacco; user experience; vaping.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Longitudinal trend of Reddit posts related to oral nicotine pouches.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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