JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Oral nicotine pouches (ONPs) such as Zyn have rapidly grown in popularity, particularly among youth. Zyn’s visibility on social media has also expanded, where youth-targeted content may shape perceptions and influence product uptake.

Objective:

This mixed-methods analysis of Instagram and TikTok Zyn-related posts aimed to i) examine their sentiment and content, ii) assess youth appeal, iii) identify potential misinformation, and iv) report the most frequently used hashtags in the selected posts as they can be significant indicators of the target audience and their behaviors.

Methods:

n March 2024, we collected 10,502 Instagram posts and 609 TikTok posts with #Zyn. We used a systematically developed codebook to guide the analysis of a random Instagram subsample (n=1200) and all TikTok posts (n=609), with intra-rater reliability confirmed (k > 0.80).

Results:

Many coded posts expressed positive sentiment (n=789) and normalized Zyn use through comedic content (n=308). Posts revealed youth-targeted themes, including appealing flavors, Zyn usage methods, and associations with sports and athletic settings. Both platforms contained posts with potential misinformation. While TikTok had more influencer-generated content, Instagram had more business and commercial content.

Conclusions:

Findings suggest that Zyn-related social media content may appeal to youth. Zyn and other ONPs are often presented favorably with engaging content, underscoring the need for updated regulatory strategies to address potential misinformation and youth appeal.