Describing Memes Referencing Vaping: Thematic Analysis.

ABSTRACT: Background: Memes, images or videos with text overlay that embody a concept or belief about the contemporary society, are endemic to Internet culture, are popular among youth and diffuse rapidly across social media platforms. E-cigarettes and vaping have grown in popularity in the era of Internet culture however there is little research describing the intersection of memes and vaping. This is an important gap in the literature as memes may be part of the broader online e-cigarette information landscape that can normalize vaping among young people. Memes could also point to emerging trends in product preferences. This study content analyzed memes to identify key themes, characters and vape products depicted therein. Methods: Data were drawn from a sub-reddit devoted to vaping-

SUBMITTER: Majmundar A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12341497 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature