Social media, television, radio, and Internet usage by sexual orientation and smoking status: A nationally representative study, USA, 2013

Background: Cigarette smoking among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people significantly exceeds that of heterosexual people. The identification of these smoking disparities has led to the development of tailored media interventions targeting LGB communities. However, limited information is available on the media use habits of LGB smokers and non-smokers.

Methods: A nationally representative sample of 13,144 US adults completed an online survey assessing media use, smoking status, and demographic information including sexual orientation. Logistic regression was used to assess relationships between media use and sexual orientation among smokers and non-smokers. Dependent variables included types of media used (i.e., social media, television, radio, Internet) and frequency of media use.

Results: A total of 590 (4.5%) respondents identified as being LGB, of which 29% were current smokers (18% of heterosexual respondents were current smokers). Compared to heterosexual non-smokers, LGB smokers and LGB non-smokers had significantly higher odds of having a profile on numerous social media sites. LGB smokers had significantly greater odds of having a Facebook profile (AOR=3.48; 95% CI=1.87, 6.48), Twitter account (AOR=1.90; 95% CI=1.14, 3.17), Google+ profile (AOR=2.44; 95% CI=1.41, 4.21), and YouTube profile (AOR=2.03; 95% CI=1.18, 3.48). Similarly, LGB non-smokers had significantly greater odds of having a Facebook profile (AOR=1.72; 95% CI=1.23, 2.41), Twitter account (AOR=1.84; 95% CI=1.29, 2.62), LinkedIn profile (AOR=1.44; 95% CI=1.04, 1.99), Google+ profile (AOR=1.98; 95% CI=1.37, 2.87), and YouTube account (AOR=2.18; 95% CI=1.55, 3.07). In addition the odds of accessing Facebook daily were significantly greater for LGB smokers (AOR=2.01; 95% CI=1.24, 3.25) and LGB non-smokers (AOR=1.52; 95% CI=1.14, 2.04). Although LGB smokers (AOR=1.18; 95% CI=0.74, 1.88) and LGB non-smokers (AOR=1.01; 95% CI=0.74, 1.38) were just as likely to be high television users as heterosexual non-smokers, they had greater odds of high Internet use (AOR=3.02; 95% CI=1.89, 4.83 and AOR=1.65; 95% CI=1.20, 2.27, respectively). No significant group differences were found for high radio use.

Conclusions: Compared to heterosexual non-smokers, LGB smokers and non-smokers reported higher use of the Internet, especially online social media. These findings suggest that tobacco control mass media campaigns should utilize web-based media, including social media, when targeting LGB populations.