title: Electronic Cigarettes on Twitter - Spreading the Appeal of Flavors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Social media platforms are used by tobacco companies to promote products. This study examines message content on Twitter from e-cigarette brands and determines if messages about flavors are more likely than non-flavor messages to be passed along to other viewers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined Twitter data from 2 e-cigarette brands and identified messages that contained terms related to e-cigarette flavors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Flavor-related posts were retweeted at a significantly higher rate by e-cigarette brands (p = .04) and other Twitter users (p < .01) than non-flavor posts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  E-cigarette brands and other Twitter users pay attention to flavor-related posts and retweet them often. These findings suggest flavors continue to be an attractive characteristic and their marketing should be monitored closely.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Kar-Hai
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Tess Boley
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Soto
keywords: E-cigarette; Twitter; flavor; marketing