QWIT
TikTok, trends, and vaping — how social media shapes teen habits
A teenager rarely decides to try vaping after seeing an advert — vape marketing to minors is banned in most places. What shapes the decision instead is far less obvious: a trick video that racks up millions of views, a creator whose whole persona involves being seen with a device, an aesthetic that makes vaping look like a lifestyle rather than a nicotine product. Social media didn't invent teen vaping, but it changed how fast it spreads and how normal it looks, often faster than any single school or household can keep up with.
Trick videos and the appeal of skill
Cloud tricks — rings, waterfalls, ghost hits — turn vaping into something that looks like a skill worth mastering rather than a habit worth avoiding. These videos rarely mention nicotine at all; the device is framed as a prop for a visual trick, which makes it easy for a young viewer to separate the "cool" performance from what's actually happening physically.
Influencers and the illusion of peer behaviour
Seeing a favourite creator vape casually on camera does something algorithms are very good at: it makes a behaviour feel widespread and ordinary, even when the actual statistic is much lower than it appears. Teens consistently overestimate how many of their peers vape when they've seen it repeatedly online, and that overestimate itself becomes a reason to try it — nobody wants to be the only one who hasn't.
How platforms and brands try to get around the rules
Direct advertising to minors is restricted on most platforms, but vape brands and resellers have found workarounds: hashtag challenges, unboxing videos framed as general lifestyle content, or product placement that never technically names a brand. Enforcement varies by platform and country, and content moderation struggles to keep pace with how quickly new accounts and trends appear.
Why banning the app rarely works alone
Removing a platform or restricting screen time can reduce exposure, but it rarely addresses the underlying pull — the social belonging, the aesthetic, the sense of being part of something. Teens who lose access to one platform often simply see the same content resurface on another. What tends to help more is talking specifically about what they've seen, rather than treating the platform itself as the entire problem.
A more useful conversation than "get off your phone"
Asking a teen to show you a trend they've seen, rather than lecturing about screen time in the abstract, opens a very different kind of conversation. It lets you ask what they think is really going on in a video — who's paid to be there, what's being sold, why a clip got so many views — which builds media literacy that outlasts any single app or trend.
Sources: World Health Organization, tobacco and vaping marketing on digital platforms; US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, youth exposure to vaping content online; UK Office of Communications (Ofcom), children's media use and online marketing reports.