What young people see online about illicit vaping with Eleanor BrayWhat young people see online about illicit vaping with Eleanor Bray
Addiction Audio
Host Dr Annika Theodoulou talks with researcher Eleanor Bray about a study comparing illicit vaping information on official websites and TikTok. The conversation focuses on how young people encounter this content online and what that might mean for creating more engaging, evidence-based resources.
18:32•28 Aug 2026
Young People, TikTok and Illicit Vapes: What They’re Really Seeing Online
Episode Overview
- Illicit vapes often exceed legal nicotine limits, have oversized tanks, and lack proper regulatory warnings, increasing potential health risks.
- Young people frequently turn to TikTok, rather than traditional websites, for information about illicit vaping.
- Official educational resources tend to be authoritative but are often seen as boring and provide limited detail on illicit vapes specifically.
- TikTok content about illicit vaping can glamorise products, promote ways to evade age checks, and present vapes as fashion accessories.
- Working with young people to co-produce humorous, evidence-based social media content may offer a more engaging way to share accurate information.
“There’s definitely value in using these platforms to create more evidence based, health related, informative resources that young people can use and learn about that are more engaging and relevant to them.”
Understand the complexities of addiction with insights from academic research into young people and vaping. This episode of Addiction Audio brings together host Dr Annika Theodoulou and researcher Eleanor Bray from the University of East Anglia to talk through a content analysis of what young people actually see online about illicit vapes.
You’ll hear Eleanor break down what makes a vape illicit in the UK: devices that exceed the legal nicotine limit, have oversized tanks, lack proper warnings, or are made in unregulated environments. She explains, "They may contain harmful toxicants and things that young people aren't aware that they're vaping," highlighting why this isn’t just a minor technical issue. The conversation looks at how official educational websites stack up against TikTok content.
Educational resources are described as authoritative and good at signposting, but often "quite boring" and light on detailed information about illicit vaping itself. By contrast, TikTok clips are homemade, youth-led and highly engaging, sometimes glamorising illicit vapes, treating them as fashion items, or sharing tips to bypass age checks and delivery rules.
Annika and Eleanor talk through the study’s method, including manual searches on Google and TikTok using incognito accounts, plus the involvement of a public and patient engagement (PPIE) representative with lived vaping experience to help judge what feels relevant and engaging to young people. A key thread is the idea of using social media’s strengths for harm reduction rather than fighting against it.
Eleanor describes how young people co-produced a humorous TikTok sketch packed with evidence-based information, showing that credible messages can still be fun and shareable. If you’re interested in how online content can shape risky behaviour around vaping – and how that same space might be used to reduce harm – this episode might get you thinking about where young people in your life are learning about these products.
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