title: User and Content Characteristics of Public Tweets Referencing Little Cigars.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Compared to cigarettes, little cigars and cigarillos (LCC) are minimally regulated, affordable, and widely available to young people. Because Twitter is a preferred mode of communication among younger people, product portrayals may be useful for informing both interventions and public health or tobacco policy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A mixed-methods study was implemented to analyze the content of public tweets (N = 288) and profile photos sampled from a search of 2 LCC brands (Black & Mild and Swisher Sweets). Metadata and manifest attributes of profile photo demographic features and tweet message features were coded and analyzed. Thematic analysis of the tweets was conducted using an iterative immersion/ crystallization method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tweeters were most often boys or men (63%) and appeared young (76%). Prevalent content themes included expressing affiliation for the LCC product and reporting smoking activity. Although men and women tweeted affiliation for LCC products and reported smoking activity in similar numbers, women were significantly less likely to tweet about blunting than men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Twitter provides a potentially potent source of nuanced information about how young people are using little cigars. These observed characteristics may be useful to inform counter-messaging strategies and interventions.
authors.affiliation: Kent State University College of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Kent, OH, USA. mstep@kent.edu.
authors.forename: Mary M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Step
authors.affiliation: Cleveland State University School of Communication, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Cheryl C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Bracken
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Erika S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Trapl
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Susan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Flocke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult