Table 2.
Twitter user category.
| User category | Year | Total (N=4432), n (%) | |||
| 2012 (N=570), n (%) | 2014 (N=1196), n (%) | 2016 (N=1377), n (%) | 2018 (N=1289), n (%) | ||
| Vape retailer or manufacturer | 147 (25.79) | 451 (37.71) | 310 (22.51) | 253 (19.63) | 1161 (26.20) |
| General public | 164 (28.77) | 303 (25.33) | 286 (20.77) | 326 (25.29) | 1079 (24.35) |
| E-cigarette advocate | 89 (15.61) | 235 (19.65) | 439 (31.88) | 275 (21.33) | 1038 (23.42) |
| News or media source | 1 (0.18) | 22 (1.84) | 48 (3.49) | 147 (11.40) | 218 (4.92) |
| Suspected bot | 104 (18.25) | 54 (4.54) | 46 (3.34) | 3 (0.23) | 207 (4.67) |
| Other | 36 (6.32) | 58 (4.85) | 73 (5.30) | 34 (2.64) | 201 (4.54) |
| Public health professional, researcher, or academic | 2 (0.35) | 11 (0.92) | 35 (2.54) | 127 (9.85) | 175 (3.95) |
| Account not active or user suspended | 13 (2.28) | 46 (3.85) | 73 (5.30) | 24 (1.86) | 156 (3.52) |
| Consumer advocacy group | 13 (2.28) | 1 (0.83) | 33 (2.40) | 50 (3.88) | 97 (2.19) |
| Health or scientific group | 0 (0) | 6 (0.50) | 22 (1.60) | 34 (2.64) | 62 (1.40) |
| Medical doctor, nurse, or group | 1 (0.18) | 7 (0.59) | 6 (0.44) | 8 (0.62) | 22 (0.50) |
| Government or politician | 0 (0) | 2 (0.17) | 6 (0.44) | 8 (0.62) | 16 (0.36) |