Perceptions of Oral Nicotine Pouches on Reddit: Observational Study

Introduction:
This paper provides an analysis of Reddit posts related to oral nicotine pouches, a new form of tobacco-free nicotine products. The study aims to examine public perceptions and discussions of oral nicotine pouches on Reddit over a two-year period. The analysis includes hand-coding topics and sentiments related to oral nicotine pouches.

Key Points:

* The number of Reddit posts related to oral nicotine pouches increased during the study period.
* The most popular topic was "sharing product information and user experience" (366/653, 56%).
* The next popular topic was "asking product-related questions" (115/653, 17.6%).
* The third most popular topic was "quitting nicotine products" such as vaping or smoking through use of oral nicotine pouches or quitting the oral nicotine pouches themselves (83/653, 12.7%).
* The least popular topic was "legality and permissions" related to oral nicotine pouches (15/653, 2.3%).
* a greater number of Reddit posts described positive attitudes compared to negative attitudes toward oral nicotine pouches (354/653, 54.2% vs 101/653, 15.5%).

Main Message:
The study found that Reddit posts overall had a positive attitude toward oral nicotine pouches and users were actively sharing product and user experiences. This provides the first insight on up-to-date oral nicotine pouch discussions on social media. however, it is important to note that the long-term health effects of oral nicotine pouches use are still unknown and potential regulatory policies might be considered to prevent possible health concerns related to oral nicotine pouches.

Shao, Y., Zou, J., Xie, Z., Mayne, R. G., Ossip, D. J., Rahman, I., McIntosh, S., & Li, D. (2022). Perceptions of Oral Nicotine Pouches on Reddit: Observational Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(7), e37071. https://doi.org/10.2196/37071