E-cigarette brands and social media influencers on Instagram: a social network analysis.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to visual posts featuring e-cigarette products on social media is associated with increased e-cigarette use among US adolescents. Instagram is the largest source of e-cigarette social media marketing, where influencers-for example, bloggers, brand ambassadors-post promotional materials. This study analysed the network of e-cigarette brands and influencers on Instagram, characterising the most central players in e-cigarette social media marketing. METHODS: We tracked influencers with public profiles on Instagram who posted promotional e-cigarette content in 2020, had over 1000 followers and high user engagement rate (ratio of likes and comments to followers) of 1%-25% per post. By conducting a social network analysis, we identified the most central (highly involved in promotional activities) influencers and e-cigarette brands. The number of the influencers' followers aged 13-17 years old and the age verification practices restricting youth access were also assessed. RESULTS: There is a highly interconnected network of engaging e-cigarette influencers (n=55) worldwide who collaborated with over 600 e-cigarette brands in 2020. The Asian and US influencers had five to six times more teenage followers compared with the European influencers. 75% of the influencers did not restrict youth access to their promotional content on Instagram. The brands Voopotech, Innokin, Geekvape, Lost Vape, Smok and Vaporesso collaborated with the largest number of influencers (mean n=20). CONCLUSIONS: It is important to understand associations among influencers and e-cigarette use behaviours, especially youth, to inform effective public health communication and potential policies that could regulate social media marketing sponsored by e-cigarette companies.

Effect of a hypothetical modified risk tobacco product claim on heated tobacco product use intention and perceptions in young adults.

INTRODUCTION: Modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) claims for heated tobacco products (HTPs) that convey reduced exposure compared with conventional cigarettes may promote product initiation and transition among young people. We assessed the effects of a hypothetical MRTP claim for HTPs on young adults' intention and perceptions of using HTPs and whether these effects differed by their current cigarette and e-cigarette use. METHODS: We embedded a randomised between-subjects experiment into a web-based survey administered among a cohort of 2354 Southern California young adults (aged 20-23) in 2020. Participants viewed depictions of HTPs with an MRTP claim (n=1190) or no claim (n=1164). HTP use intention and HTP-related harm and use perceptions relative to cigarettes and e-cigarettes were assessed. RESULTS: Overall, participants who viewed versus did not view the claim did not differ in HTP use intention (28.5% vs 28.7%) but were more likely to perceive HTPs as less harmful than cigarettes (11.4% vs 7.0%; p<0.001). The experimental effect on HTP use intention did not differ among past 30-day cigarette smokers versus non-smokers (interaction adjusted OR (AOR)=0.78, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.76) but differed among past 30-day e-cigarette users versus non-users (interaction AOR=1.67, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.68). DISCUSSION: The hypothetical MRTP claim may lower young adults' HTP harm perceptions compared with cigarettes but may not change HTP use intention overall or differentially for cigarette smokers. The larger effect on HTP use intention among e-cigarette users than non-users raises the question of whether MRTP claims may promote HTP use or HTP and e-cigarette dual use among young e-cigarette users.

Tobacco promotion restriction policies on social media.

Tobacco promotion is prolific on social media, with each platform setting their own restrictions on tobacco promotion and sales. We evaluated the policies related to tobacco product promotion and sales on 11 sites that are popular with youth in May 2021: Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr, Twitch, Twitter and YouTube. Nine of the 11 sites prohibited paid advertising for tobacco products. However, only three of them clearly prohibited sponsored content (ie, social influencers) that promotes tobacco. Six platforms restricted content that sells tobacco products and three tried to prohibit underage access to content that promotes or sells tobacco products. Although most platform policies prohibited paid tobacco advertising, few addressed more novel strategies, such as sponsored/influencer content and few had age-gating to prevent youth access. There is a pressing need to regulate tobacco promotion on social media platforms.

Lucy-Novel Flavored Nicotine Gum, Lozenges, and Pouches: Are They Misleading Consumers?

Background: The packaging and marketing of nicotine gums, lozenges, and pouches can influence users' perceptions about which products are evidence-based for tobacco cessation and which are designed for nicotine maintenance-which could keep people nicotine dependent. Lucy, a company that produces flavored nicotine gums, lozenges, and pouches, could cause confusion by mimicking the packaging of traditional chewing gum and using similar marketing for its approved smoking cessation products and non-approved products. Methods: This commentary describes Lucy's marketing practices that could prolong nicotine dependence rather than aid cessation. Results: Lucy's marketing as "FDA approved for smoking cessation" (true for the lozenges but not the gum or pouches) and "PMTA [Premarket Tobacco Product Application] accepted" could create a false narrative of regulatory acceptance. Its scientific conference presentations could imply that it is endorsed by the scientific community. Its colorful pack design, emphasizing flavors and minimizing nicotine warnings, may attract youth and non-nicotine-users to initiate nicotine use. Conclusion: Lucy's promotion of its products as safe alternatives to other forms of tobacco, its packaging that recalls innocuous chewing gum, and its use of social media to advertise its products should be explored by researchers and considered by policymakers for potential population-level health effects.

Exposure to E-Cigarette Product Placement in Music Videos Is Associated With Vaping Among Young Adults.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of electronic-cigarette (e-cigarette) product placement in music videos is on the rise and currently unregulated. This promotional activity is concerning given the popularity of music videos among young adults. AIMS: We examined associations between self-reported levels of exposure to music videos with any e-cigarette product placement or imagery and susceptibility to use e-cigarettes and e-cigarette use. METHOD: A representative sample of young adults (18-24 years of age), residing in California (n = 1,280), completed online surveys assessing self-reported exposure to music videos with e-cigarette product placement or imagery and susceptibility to use e-cigarettes and e-cigarette use. Adjusted and weighted regression analyses were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: Participants exposed to any e-cigarette product placement or imagery in music videos were more likely to report lifetime e-cigarette use (relative risk ratio [RRR]: 2.81) and past 30-day use (RRR: 3.64) compared with participants with no exposure. Additionally, participants with greater levels of exposure were more likely to report lifetime e-cigarette use (RRR: 1.13) and past 30-day use (RRR: 1.20) compared with participants with lower levels of exposure. Among those with any exposure, participants younger than 21 years of age (i.e., under the tobacco purchasing age in the United States) were more likely to report lifetime e-cigarette use (RRR: 4.68) compared with those aged 21 years and older. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Restricting e-cigarette product placement or imagery in music videos may minimize marketing exposure and risk for vaping among young adults, especially among those under the tobacco purchasing age.

Twitter Surveillance at the Intersection of the Triangulum.

INTRODUCTION: A holistic public health surveillance approach can help capture the public's tobacco and marijuana-related attitudes and behaviors. Using publicly available data from Twitter, this is one of the first studies to describe key topics of discussions related to each intersection (e-cigarette, combustible tobacco, and marijuana) of the Triangulum framework. AIMS AND METHODS: Twitter posts (n = 999 447) containing marijuana, e-cigarette, and combustible tobacco terms were collected from January 1, 2018 to December 23, 2019. Posts to Twitter with co-occurring mentions of keywords associated with the Triangulum were defined as an intersection (e-cigarettes and combustible tobacco, combustible tobacco and marijuana, e-cigarettes and marijuana, and marijuana, e-cigarettes and combustible tobacco). Text classifiers and unsupervised machine learning were used to identify predominant topics in posts. RESULTS: Product Features and Cartridges were commonly referenced at the intersection of e-cigarette and marijuana-related conversations. Blunts and Cigars and Drugs and Alcohol were commonly referenced at the intersection of combustible tobacco and marijuana-related discussions. Flavors and Health Risks were discussed at the intersection of e-cigarette and combustible-related conversations, while discussions about Illicit products and Health risks were key topics of discussion when e-cigarettes, combustible tobacco, and marijuana were referenced all together in a single post. CONCLUSION: By examining intersections of marijuana and tobacco products, this study offers inputs for designing comprehensive FDA regulations including regulating product features associated with appeal, improving enforcement to curb sales of illicit products, and informing the FDA's product review and standards procedures for tobacco products that can be used with marijuana. IMPLICATIONS: This study is the first to leverage the Triangulum framework and Twitter data to describe key topics of discussions at the intersection of e-cigarette, combustible tobacco, and marijuana. Real-time health communication interventions can identify Twitter users posting in the context of e-cigarettes, combustible tobacco, and marijuana by automated methods and deliver tailored messages. This study also demonstrates the utility of Twitter data for surveillance of complex and evolving health behaviors.

Vaping and COVID-19: Insights for Public Health and Clinical Care from Twitter.

This study describes key topics of discussions on Twitter at the intersection of vaping and COVID-19 and documents public reactions to announcements from authoritative health agencies. Twitter posts containing vaping and COVID-19-related terms were collected from 1 December 2019 to 3 May 2020 (n = 23,103 posts). Text classifiers and unsupervised machine learning were used to identify topics in posts. Predominant topics included COVID-19 Respiratory Health (18.87%), COVID-19 Susceptibility (17.53%), Death (10.07%), Other COVID-19 Health Effects (9.62%), and Severity of COVID-19 (7.72%), among others. Public conversations on topics, such as Severity of COVID-19, Transmission, Susceptibility, Health Effects, Death, and Smoking cessation, were shaped by announcements from U.S. and international health agencies. Armed with the insights from this study, medical providers should be prepared to discuss vaping-related health risks with their patients in the era of COVID-19. Misconceptions around vaping as a protective behavior from, and an effective treatment against, COVID-19 should also be corrected.

Leading Topics in Twitter Discourse on JUUL and Puff Bar Products: Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: In response to the recent government restrictions, flavored JUUL products, which are rechargeable closed-system electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), are no longer available for sale. However, disposable closed-system products such as the flavored Puff Bar e-cigarette continues to be available. If e-cigarette consumers simply switch between products during the current government restrictions limited to 1 type of product over another, then such restrictions would be less effective. A step forward in this line of research is to understand how the public discusses these products by examining discourse referencing both Puff Bar and JUUL in the same conversation. Twitter data provide ample opportunity to capture such early trends that could be used to help public health researchers stay abreast of the rapidly changing e-cigarette marketplace. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to examine public discourse referencing both Puff Bar and JUUL products in the same conversation on Twitter. METHODS: We collected data from Twitter's streaming application programming interface between July 16, 2019, and August 29, 2020, which included both "Puff Bar" and "JUUL" (n=2632). We then used an inductive approach to become familiar with the data and generate a codebook to identify common themes. Saturation was determined to be reached with 10 themes. RESULTS: Posts often mentioned flavors, dual use, design features, youth use, health risks, switching 1 product for the other, price, confusion over the differences between products, longevity of the products, and nicotine concentration. CONCLUSIONS: On examining the public's conversations about Puff Bar and JUUL products on Twitter, having described themes in posts, this study aimed to help the tobacco control community stay informed about 2 popular e-cigarette products with different device features, which can be potentially substituted for one another. Future health communication campaigns may consider targeting the health consequences of using multiple e-cigarette products or dual use to reduce exposure to high levels of nicotine among younger populations.

Categorizing IQOS-Related Twitter Discussions.

(1) Background: The heated tobacco product IQOS, by Philip Morris International, is now available in over 55 countries, including the United States. Social media sites such as Twitter are often used to promote or discuss tobacco products, though prior research has not examined how IQOS is presented on Twitter. (2) Methods: This study collected and categorized Twitter conversations involving IQOS. A manual content analysis was performed on N = 3916 English tweets related to IQOS published internationally between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020. (3) Results: Most tweets were either online marketing for IQOS (32.3%) or personal testimonials related to IQOS use (34.2%). Personal testimonial tweets made harm reduction claims about IQOS either as an avenue to quit smoking/tobacco use (3.4%), or in comparison to combustible cigarettes (2.0%). Tobacco policy-related tweets were detected (13.9%), split between discussions of United States (4.9%) and international (4.4%) policies. News media tweets (14.2%) were also detected. (4) Conclusions: Our study suggests IQOS may be understood as a less harmful alternative to vaping and combustible cigarettes. Discussions also suggest IQOS is likely to be used to avoid clean air policies or used in areas in which smoking is restricted.

Retail Marketing of Menthol Cigarettes in Los Angeles, California: a Challenge to Health Equity.

INTRODUCTION: Sales of menthol cigarettes continue to increase, accounting for a third of the US cigarette market. Retail marketing of menthol cigarettes is a contributing factor to tobacco-related health disparities. To inform regulation to address associated disparities, we examined retail marketing strategies for menthol cigarettes and their features and characteristics in relation to neighborhood racial/ethnic composition. METHODS: We used multilevel regression models to examine associations of neighborhood racial/ethnic composition and store type with menthol cigarette sales outcomes, including availability, exterior advertising, price promotions, and price in a sample of tobacco retailers (N = 673) in Los Angeles County neighborhoods with a median or below-median household income. We also recorded the prices of Newport cigarettes (the highest selling menthol cigarette brand in the United States) and blu disposable menthol e-cigarettes. RESULTS: Overall, 94.5% of retailers sold menthol cigarettes, 31.2% displayed menthol cigarette price promotions, and 30.2% displayed at least one menthol cigarette advertisement on their exterior. Adjusting for racial/ethnic zip code cluster and store type, stores located in predominantly African American neighborhoods showed significantly higher odds in the availability of Newport cigarettes than stores in Hispanic neighborhoods (OR = 0.21; 95% CI, 0.09-0.53; P = .001) or non-Hispanic White (OR = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.05-0.31; P < .001) neighborhoods. Stores located in predominantly African American neighborhoods displayed significantly higher odds of having price promotions for menthol cigarettes and storefront advertisements than those in Hispanic neighborhoods (OR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.30-0.88; P = .02 and OR = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.13-0.48; P < .001, respectively). CONCLUSION: In 2016 and 2017, menthol cigarettes were widely available in Los Angeles County across racial/ethnic neighborhoods. We found a disproportionate number of storefront advertisements and price promotions for menthol cigarettes in stores located in predominantly African American neighborhoods along with the lowest advertised pack price. This evidence supports tobacco control policies that restrict menthol cigarette sales in the retail environment.

#FlavorsSaveLives: An Analysis of Twitter Posts Opposing Flavored E-cigarette Bans.

BACKGROUND: Starting in 2019 policies restricting the availability of flavored e-cigarette products were proposed or implemented in the United States to curb vaping by youth. People took to Twitter to voice their opposition, referencing the phrase "Flavors Save Lives." This study documented the emerging themes pertaining to "Flavors Saves Lives" over a 12-month period. METHODS: The study period was from May 1, 2019, to May 1, 2020. A stratified sampling procedure supplied 2500 tweets for analysis. Posts were classified by one or more of the following themes: (1) Political Referendum; (2) Institutional Distrust; (3) Individual Rights; (4) Misinformation; (5) THC Vaping is the Real Problem; (6) Smoking Cessation; (7) Adult Use; and (8) Not a Bot. The temporal pattern of tweets over the year was examined. RESULTS: Political Referendum (76.5%) and Institutional Distrust (31.3%) were the most prominent themes, followed by Not a Bot (11.0%), Individual Rights (10.4%), Adult Use (8.0%), Smoking Cessation (6.6%), Misinformation (5.9%), and THC Vaping is the Real Problem (3.5%). Total tweet frequencies increased in September 2019 and peaked in November 2019 before returning to relatively low numbers. Political Referendum and Institutional Distrust were consistently the most prevalent themes over time. CONCLUSION: Twitter posts with the phrase "Flavors Save Lives" commonly discussed voting against political incumbents and mentioned distrust of government representatives. Findings demonstrated the possibility of near real-time Twitter monitoring of public opposition to flavor bans. These data may be valuable for designing tobacco control information campaigns in the future. IMPLICATIONS: (a) Starting in 2019 policies restricting the availability of flavored e-cigarette products were proposed or implemented in the United States to curb vaping by youth. (b) This study content analyzed Twitter posts with the phrase "Flavors Save Lives" from a 12-month period to understand opposition to flavor restrictions. (c) Twitter posts commonly discussed voting against political incumbents and mentioned distrust of government representatives. (d) Findings demonstrated the possibility of near real-time Twitter monitoring of public opposition to flavor bans, and contribute to a more comprehensive assessment of different sub-population's responses to current and proposed tobacco control information policies.

Instagram's #JUUL: who's posting what.

Exposure to e-cigarette (e-cig) marketing through traditional and online media can increase the risk of e-cig use among adolescents. Though popular e-cig brand JUUL has scaled back its social media promotions, outside vendors and individual users create posts about JUUL unregulated. Instagram's image-focus offers an opportunity to document promotions that may appeal to adolescents. To assess the visual representation of JUUL on social media, we systematically classified discussion topics and themes of posts to Instagram. Of 25,428 unique Instagram images using the hashtag #JUUL retrieved between June 18 and July 18, 2018, a random subsample of 3,000 images (approximately 12% of the full data set) was drawn for human coding and analyses. Coded categories included relevance to JUUL, type of image, image appeal, and user type. Based on the number of relevant images, percentages of image type and appeal for each user type were calculated. There were 583 images that were coded as relevant. The majority of image types (64%) were classified as product (n =; 374). The most frequently coded type of appeal was flavors, found in 54% of images with appeal (n =; 149), followed by cartoons, found in 21% (n =; 57). Vendors were responsible for posting most of the images (n =; 291), followed by e-cig enthusiasts (n =; 99). Continued surveillance of e-cig products, such as JUUL, remains necessary to provide a foundation for potential regulatory protections against marketing and promotions that may appeal to youth.

E-cigarette and cigarette purchasing among young adults before and after implementation of California's tobacco 21 policy.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco 21 (T21) laws, which raise the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco products to 21, have been proposed and implemented in states and cities across the USA. However, limited data are available on the effect of T21 laws on youth tobacco purchasing behaviours and access to tobacco products. METHODS: Participants in a population-based prospective cohort in southern California completed questionnaires before (n=1609, age=18-19 y) and after (n=1502, age=19-20 y) T21 was implemented in California (June 2016). We examined the prevalence of past 30-day cigarette and e-cigarette use, and among past 30-day users, purchase location of tobacco products before (pre-) versus after (post-) T21. We also examined whether, post-T21, participants were refused purchase of tobacco products due to their age, and the perceived relative ease of purchasing cigarettes and e-cigarettes (vs pre-T21). RESULTS: Negligible changes in cigarette and e-cigarette use were observed pre-T21 versus post-T21. At both time points, the majority of past 30-day users purchased cigarettes from gas stations and e-cigarettes from vape shops. Post-T21, the proportion of participants who reported purchasing cigarettes at gas stations decreased. Post-T21, most past 30-day cigarette or e-cigarette users were not refused purchase of cigarettes (65.4%) or e-cigarettes (82.0%) in the past 30 days, despite being under 21; half of the participants felt it was harder to purchase cigarettes (54.3%) and e-cigarettes (43.6%) post-T21. CONCLUSION: Post-T21, few participants were refused purchase of any tobacco product, despite the illegality of such sales. Better enforcement of T21 is needed to improve the efficacy of T21 legislation.

Vape Shop Employees: Do They Act as Smoking Cessation Counselors?

INTRODUCTION: This study examined smoking cessation advice offered by vape shop employees, as well as their perceived awareness of vaping research. AIMS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 121 vape shops in the Greater Los Angeles area of Southern California in four multiethnic communities (Hispanic/Latino, African American, Korean/Asian, and non-Hispanic White). A 35-minute interview assessed the employee's tobacco product use, perceptions of vaping research, and experience advising customers to quit cigarette smoking. RESULTS: Among 121 vape shop employees surveyed, 106 (88%) reported that they provided smoking cessation advice or counseling to customers. Nearly half (45%) reported having no vaping-related research knowledge, while 30% were aware of provaping studies only. Approximately 85% of employees had quit cigarettes by switching to e-cigarettes instead, whereas 15% were dual users. Only 49% believed that vaping products contribute to nicotine addiction among youth. Those who provided advice on quitting cigarette smoking reported significantly lower knowledge of e-cigarette research than those who did not provide advice (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Most vape shop employees provide advice to customers who desire to quit cigarette smoking and initiate electronic cigarette use. However, they report a low level of awareness about e-cigarette research. Future research is warranted to examine the specifics of advice provided by vape shop employees. Training programs for vape shop employees and educational campaigns about evidence-based scientific findings on vaping may be beneficial. IMPLICATIONS: Almost nine out of 10 surveyed vape shop employees offered cigarette smoking cessation advice to their customers, while almost half of the retailers report not being aware of any vaping-related research studies. Providing employees with training on evidence-based cessation advice could help protect customers. Also, training programs for vape shop employees and educational campaigns about the risk of nicotine addiction could potentially increase their motivation to avoid sales to minors and to warn adults about nicotine addiction.

Identifying message content to reduce vaping: Results from online message testing trials in young adult tobacco users.

INTRODUCTION: Young adults' e-cigarette use is associated with perceptions that e-cigarettes are less harmful or addictive than cigarettes, socially acceptable, and appealing. This study developed and tested vaping educational messages addressing these factors: 1) Harm Perceptions, 2) Addictiveness, 3) Social Use, and 4) Flavors. METHODS: Two message trials were conducted in U.S. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers aged 18-24 using a 2 (content: addiction, harm) × 3 (theme: alone, + flavors, + social) design with multiple messages in each of the six categories. Participants were assigned to view a random subset of messages and report on likeability and perceived message effectiveness (PME). Phase 1 (n = 200) tested 33 messages and 32 images. Phase 2 (n = 769) tested combinations of Phase 1's 24 most effective messages with 6 images rated most likeable or effective. Linear mixed effects models assessed the effect of content, theme, image, and their interactions on message response. RESULTS: In both trials, most participants were past 30-day tobacco users. Harm content messages produced higher PME ratings than addiction content messages, and flavor theme messages were correlated with higher likeability scores than "content alone" theme messages. In Phase 2, flavor and social message themes decreased the PME of harm messages. There was no effect of images on either outcome controlling for the independent or interaction effects of content, theme, and image. CONCLUSIONS: Messages conveying the harms of vaping may be best for reducing vaping in young adult tobacco users; flavor and social themes may diminish their effectiveness.

"I'm using cigarettes to quit JUUL": An analysis of Twitter posts about JUUL cessation.

INTRODUCTION: JUUL, a small pod-based vaping device that aerosolizes nicotine salts, is popular among adolescents and young adults. Because of JUUL's high nicotine content, JUUL users can become nicotine dependent very quickly and have difficulty quitting. Nicotine-dependent JUUL users might turn to Twitter to seek advice, share their cessation struggles, or report their success rather than confiding in friends or family. METHOD: This study analyzed Twitter tweets (N = 3192) posted in 2018-2019 to identify common themes about quitting JUUL. Tweets containing the keywords "JUUL" and "quit" or "quitting" were analyzed qualitatively and grouped into themes. RESULTS: The most common themes were Methods to quit (25.4%), Have quit (17.8%), Want to quit (16.1%), Reasons to quit (9.6%), Difficulty quitting (7.9%), Barriers to quitting (2.9%), and Curious about quitting (2.1%). Methods to quit included evidence-based tobacco cessation methods such as nicotine replacement therapy and enrolling in a text-to-quit program, but they also included non-evidence-based strategies such as buying lower-nicotine pods online or switching to other tobacco products including cigarettes. Former JUUL users who had quit successfully generally expressed pride but also acknowledged that quitting was very difficult. Reasons for quitting included adverse health effects such as breathing problems and the financial cost of a JUUL habit. Posters mentioned their extreme difficulty quitting JUUL, numerous failed quit attempts, and numerous barriers to quitting including intense physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms. Some posters joked about switching to cigarettes or other drugs to quit JUUL. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that JUUL cessation is difficult and that some JUUL users want to quit. Health communication messages are needed to direct JUUL users to effective cessation strategies.

Digital media use and subsequent cannabis and tobacco product use initiation among adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Digital media engagement, such as browsing the internet or social media posting, may be associated with cannabis and tobacco product use initiation among adolescents. Whether certain digital media exposure confers greater - or reduced - risk for specific cannabis or tobacco products is unknown. METHODS: Adolescents completed surveys on digital media and substance use every 6 months from 2015 to 2017 (4 waves). Self-reported digital media use (14 items) was classified into six subcategories (e.g., "social media posting," "reading news/articles & browsing photos"). Random-effect repeated-measures regression models examined the association of exposure to each digital media subcategory with subsequent cannabis or tobacco product use initiation in the next 6 months, among baseline cannabis and tobacco never-users (n = 1841; n = 1558, respectively). RESULTS: High frequency digital media use (multiple times/day) of "social media posting" (vs. no high frequency use; OR = 1.95; 95%CI:1.20-3.17) and "checking in" (OR = 1.71; 95%CI:1.23-2.38) was associated with greater odds of any cannabis product use initiation 6 months later. "Reading news/articles & browsing photos" was associated with decreased odds of initiation (OR = 0.52; 95%CI:0.34-0.79). "Checking in" and "reading news/articles & browsing photos" were similarly associated with any tobacco use initiation. "Chatting and shopping" was associated with greater odds (OR = 4.63; 95%CI:1.53-14.06) of e-cigarette initiation, but not of other product use initiation. CONCLUSIONS: Some subcategories of digital media use conferred increased odds, others conferred reduced odds, and others were not associated with cannabis and tobacco use initiation. Research exploring mechanisms that put users of specific digital media at greater risk for substance use initiation is warranted.