A Longitudinal Analysis of Gambling-Related Content on X

X/Twitter is one of the most widely used social media platforms globally. Gambling operators, like many other companies, have leveraged the integration of social media into their business strategies to engage with millions of individuals efficiently. This has resulted in significant benefits, including enhancing consumer experiences, fostering brand loyalty, and consequently increasing sales revenue. Still, concerns have been raised regarding questionable advertising practices used on social media platforms, particularly on X. These concerns are exacerbated by the potential of experiencing gambling-related harms associated with exposure to gambling advertisements. Furthermore, questions remain regarding the gambling-related content displayed to patrons on X and whether X responsibly displays such content to patrons. The present study aims to address these questions by using a 30-day longitudinal naturalistic study design to prospectively assess differences in gambling-related content displayed to individuals who gamble and engage with gambling-related content and those who do not. Eligible participants will install a Google Chrome extension that will passively track displayed content on X. Data will be analyzed using two hierarchical linear models to assess within and between-group differences in advertisements and gambling-related content displayed on X. The results of this study could have significant implications for regulations across social media platforms.