Social Media Use and Exposure to E-Cigarette Content: A Comparison of Lesbian or Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning and Heterosexual Male and Female Young Adults in California.

Introduction: Given the rapidly changing media landscape and popularity of e-cigarettes among young adults who identify as lesbian or gay, bisexual, questioning, or something else (LGB+), timely data on media consumption and exposure to e-cigarette content across media channels is imperative for developing counter-messaging and public education campaigns for these individuals.

Methods: Using 2023 data from young adults in California, this study examined how social media use differed for heterosexual and LGB+ young adults, by sex. Exposure to e-cigarette content across media channels was also compared between heterosexual and LGB+ young adults, by sex.

Results: Findings from a non-probability representative sample of young adults in California showed that more LGB+ young adults reported using Tumblr and fewer reported using Facebook and Snapchat, compared with heterosexual young adults, among both males and females. Use of Reddit was more common among LGB+ versus heterosexual females, but there were no differences by sexual identity among males. Exposure to e-cigarette marketing was more common among LGB+ females compared with heterosexual females, but this was not the case for males. Exposure to user-generated e-cigarette content, and self-reported visits to e-cigarette websites, were more common among LGB+ females compared to heterosexual females.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of treating LGB+ individuals as a heterogeneous group. As such, anti-tobacco campaigns targeting LGB+ individuals that leverage social media will want to consider which platforms are most used among their target audience to increase campaign reach.

Implications: This study builds upon the literature by providing timely data on how LGB+ young adults consume social media and are exposed to e-cigarette marketing. Findings have implications for tobacco education campaigns designed for LGB+ individuals that leverage social media.