Table 1.
Twitter user characteristics | Opinion leaders (n=347) | Followers (n=567) | General users (n=519) | P value | |
Social network size | |||||
Number of Twitter users who follow the respondent (median) | 1000 | 554 | 503 | .001 | |
Number of Twitter users whom the respondent follows (median) | 428 | 375 | 366 | .01 | |
Age (years) | 24.2 | 22.4 | 25.2 | <.001 | |
Female, n/N (%) | 122/242 (50.4) | 211/392 (53.8) | 202/360 (56.1) | .39 | |
Race and ethnicity, n/N (%) | |||||
African American | 26/242 (11) | 40/392 (10) | 67/360 (19) | .03 | |
Asian or Pacific Islander | 15/242 (6) | 21/392 (5) | 14/360 (4) | .03 | |
Hispanic | 51/242(21) | 102/392 (26) | 74/360 (21) | .03 | |
White | 129/242 (53) | 201/392 (51 ) | 176/360 (49) | .03 | |
Other | 21/242 (9) | 28/392 (7) | 29/360 (8) | .03 | |
Education, n/N (%) | |||||
High school or less | 85/241 (35) | 155/380 (41) | 109/350 (31) | <.001 | |
Some college | 111/241 (46) | 185/380 (49) | 149/350 (43) | <.001 | |
Bachelor’s degree or higher | 45/241 (19) | 40/380 (11) | 92/350 (26) | <.001 | |
Number of tobacco products used in past month (mean) | 1.31 | .98 | .66 | <.001 | |
Use of specific products in the past month, n/N (%) | |||||
Cigarettes | 93/347 (27) | 117/567 (21) | 83/519 (16) | .01 | |
E-cigarettes | 65/347(19) | 93/567 (16) | 50/519 (10) | .01 | |
Cigar | 30/34 (9) | 37/567 (7) | 23/519 (4) | .04 | |
Pipe | 37/347 (11) | 64/567 (11) | 28/519 (6) | .01 | |
Blunt | 96/347 (28) | 118/567 (21) | 73/519 (14) | .01 | |
Hookah | 45/347 (13) | 51/567 (9) | 29/519 (6) | .01 | |
Smokeless | 13/347 (4) | 7/567 (1) | 11/519 (2) | .04 | |
Cigarillo | 60/347 (17) | 67/567 (12) | 41/519 (8) | .01 | |
Other substance use in the past month, n/N (%) | |||||
Alcohol | 159/229 (69) | 221/378 (58) | 215/354 (61) | .02 | |
Marijuana | 103/219 (47) | 142/371 (38) | 96/330 (29) | <.001 | |
Nicotine dependence score (mean) | 1.48 | 1.18 | 1.02 | .04 | |
Number of tobacco brands followed on Twitter (mean) | .23 | .18 | .13 | .11 |