Discourses on smoke-free policies on Dutch Twitter: A social network analysis

In highly mediatized societies, online discourses may contribute to whether novel smoke-free policies become a success. This study analyses Dutch public discourses about smoke-free policies on Twitter, which has been known as X since 2023.

We analyzed messages about smoke-free policies published by Dutch Twitter users from January 2020 until 31 March 2021. We used search queries designed to find tweets that shed light on health, legislative, and emotional aspects of smoke-free policies and used a mixed-method approach that combined social network analysis, text mining, and qualitative inquiry to identify online communities and understand what they are saying.

We found 45,636 Twitter messages that mostly responded to news about smoke-free policies and tobacco legislation. We identified two larger news communities and five niche communities of which the Health Care, Vaping Lobby, and Anti-Establishment communities were the most substantively engaged. The Health Care community focused on spreading health information and exposing the tobacco lobby. The Vaping Lobby community pushed vaping as a healthy alternative to smoking. The Anti-Establishment community connected smoke-free policies with alleged oppression of civil liberties such as driving cars, eating meat, and COVID-19 measures.

Smoke-free policies are frequently discussed by communities that each approach the topic from their own perspective. Anti-establishment sentiment may pose a threat to implementing smoke-free policies, especially if the Vaping Lobby is to align its argumentation with the anti-institutional narratives. The approach presented in this study can strengthen socio-ecological approaches that aim to account for public debate on social media in implementing new policies.