ERIC Number: EJ1235106
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Dec
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1090-1981
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Available Date: N/A
Topic Clustering of E-Cigarette Submissions among Reddit Communities: A Network Perspective
Barker, Joshua O.; Rohde, Jacob A.
Health Education & Behavior, v46 n2 suppl p59-68 Dec 2019
E-cigarette use in the United States has significantly grown in recent years. Widespread diffusion of e-cigarette content across social media communities may be contributing to this growth. In this study, we (1) explored topics related to e-cigarettes and vaping on Reddit and (2) examined the extent to which these topics clustered across distinct communities. We analyzed a total of N = 79,783 Reddit submissions posted between March 2017 and February 2018 that mentioned at least one e-cigarette or vaping keyword. We created a dictionary to classify submissions into seven different topics related to e-cigarettes and vaping. Submissions were also categorized into one of six mutually exclusive communities identified using subreddit meta-data. Our results indicate that e-cigarette and vaping content on Reddit is primarily about the buying and selling of e-cigarette products. Other common topics included how to build vaping devices, e-juice, and e-cigarette advice. Network correlation analyses found that the distribution of our seven identified topics varied significantly among general e-cigarette, drugs, and research/news subreddit communities. Findings from this study add to a growing literature investigating e-cigarettes and vaping on social media and also contribute to network-level theories by linking communities on Reddit to the diffusion of various depictions of e-cigarettes and vaping.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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