Instagram posts about medical cannabis mostly focus on advertising, but personal stories get the most engagement
An analysis of 1,466 Instagram posts with cannabinoid hashtags found that a third were advertising, a quarter shared personal experiences, and personal stories received the most likes.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Of 1,466 Instagram posts with cannabis-related hashtags, 33% focused on advertising/commercialization, 26% on personal experience, 20% on educational content, and 21% on other topics. Personal experience posts received the most engagement.
Key Numbers
1,466 posts analyzed. 81.79% were deemed relevant to cannabis/cannabinoids. 70.74% were in English. Organizations published more posts, but personal stories received more likes.
How They Did This
Researchers used the Apify platform to collect Instagram posts from 2023-2024 containing cannabinoid-related hashtags. Posts were categorized by content type, language, and source (individual vs. organization), then analyzed using RStudio.
Why This Research Matters
Social media is a major source of health information for many people. Understanding what cannabis-related content looks like on Instagram reveals how much is commercial vs. educational and where misinformation risks may concentrate.
The Bigger Picture
As cannabis becomes more mainstream, social media increasingly shapes public perception of its medical uses. The dominance of advertising content and the emotional pull of personal anecdotes highlight the gap between marketing and evidence-based information.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Limited to Instagram and specific hashtags, so findings may not generalize to other platforms. Content categorization involved subjective judgment. No assessment of accuracy of health claims in posts.
Questions This Raises
- ?How does cannabis health content on Instagram compare to platforms like TikTok or Reddit?
- ?Are users who engage with personal cannabis stories more likely to try cannabis products?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- 33% of cannabis-related Instagram posts were advertising
- Evidence Grade:
- Descriptive social media analysis with no clinical outcomes. Useful for understanding information landscape but not treatment effects.
- Study Age:
- 2024 study analyzing posts from 2023-2024.
- Original Title:
- Efficiency and safety of cannabinoid medical use: an analysis of discussions and observed trends on Instagram.
- Published In:
- Frontiers in public health, 12, 1494018 (2024)
- Authors:
- Litvinova, Olena, Baral, Bikash, Wochele-Thoma, Thomas, Matin, Maima, Tzvetkov, Nikolay T, Adamska, Olga, Kamińska, Agnieszka, Łapiński, Marcin, Stolarczyk, Artur, Atanasov, Atanas G
- Database ID:
- RTHC-05483
Evidence Hierarchy
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of cannabis content is most common on Instagram?
Advertising and commercialization made up the largest share (33%), followed by personal experiences (26%) and educational content (20%).
What type of posts got the most engagement?
Personal experience stories received the most likes, suggesting a strong emotional connection between audiences and first-person cannabis narratives.
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Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-05483APA
Litvinova, Olena; Baral, Bikash; Wochele-Thoma, Thomas; Matin, Maima; Tzvetkov, Nikolay T; Adamska, Olga; Kamińska, Agnieszka; Łapiński, Marcin; Stolarczyk, Artur; Atanasov, Atanas G. (2024). Efficiency and safety of cannabinoid medical use: an analysis of discussions and observed trends on Instagram.. Frontiers in public health, 12, 1494018. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1494018
MLA
Litvinova, Olena, et al. "Efficiency and safety of cannabinoid medical use: an analysis of discussions and observed trends on Instagram.." Frontiers in public health, 2024. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1494018
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Efficiency and safety of cannabinoid medical use: an analysi..." RTHC-05483. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/litvinova-2024-efficiency-and-safety-of
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.