Cannabis is the most censored industry on earth — especially on social media. Yet social media marketing remains crucial. It’s a direct line of communication with your community.
The most popular social media apps are private entities owned by billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. This means they have their own set of rules, regulations and algorithms trained to target cannabis. Regardless of where you live and if weed is legal in your area, you run the risk of being flagged and even deleted for going against their strict community guidelines.
Today, we are looking at which apps are 420-friendly, which are censorship hot spots and how cannabis entrepreneurs can navigate the current social media minefield.
Which Apps Are Cannabis-Friendly?
• YouTube
YouTube eased restrictions on cannabis content in 2021. Since then, weed educators have been more visible. Your content will be safe as long as it has educational value. It’s one of my favorite platforms becausepeople use it.Owned by Google,YouTube welcomes 2.7 billion monthly active users as of October 2024. It offers the potential to monetize once you reach certain goals: 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watchtime in the last year.
• X
The website formerly known as Twitter, X is cannabis-friendly. As soon as Musk acquired it in 2023, he announced that CBD and THC products would be allowed on the platform. Musk even accepts weed-related advertisements. My company, Fast Buds, became the first cannabis company to advertise on X following the historic news.
Cannabis hashtags trend often on X. This is a safe haven for free speech and weed, as exemplified by feeds full of amazing nug shots from international growers.
The business of weed thrives on LinkedIn. You’ll see plenty of plant photos and hashtags for the cannabis industry. Many insiders call it the best social media app for weed. LinkedIn has created a rare free space for cannabis industry conversations, due to its professional focus, catering to business execs who are 21 and up.
Reddit is a brilliant community-building tool. It’s safe for weed photos, allowing you to age-gate Subreddit groups. It’s a means for users to gain real-time advice from growers who specialize in cultivating their same genetics, especially in groups like the Fast Buds Family. Another space I love for growers on this platform is Trees, a Subreddit founded in 2009 with over 2 million members.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
• Discord
Originally gaining popularity in the gaming community, weed has found an unlikely home on Discord. That’s because it offers end-to-end encryption for audio and video. You can create communities, called Servers or Channels, similar to group chats. It’s one avenue where weed entrepreneurs can speak without censorship.
Which Apps Are Not Cannabis-Friendly?
• Telegram
Telegram isn’t the refuge for growers that it once was. A recent policy reversal on weed meant a lot of prominent cannabis creators lost their Telegram accounts (Fast Buds included). Telegram’s latest policy states that users cannot: “Engage in activities that are recognized as illegal in the majority of countries.” The cannabis community will miss you, Telegram. Here’s to hoping one day weed will be legal in the majority of countries.
• TikTok
If you censor the plant and focus on culture, you can find a massive worldwide audience on TikTok. Success is possible, even though China-based TikTok hates weed. Its algorithm works fast and will take down cannabis content within minutes. The app’s guidelines read: “We do not allow the trade of alcohol, tobacco products, and/or drugs. We also do not allow showing, possessing, or using drugs.”
TikTok is an untapped market for weed. If content goes viral on this app, it truly soars. On the negative side, if you are flagged, your account will be shadowbanned and its reach will tank. It’s a gamble worth taking for many weed brands, from my experience. Great risk, great reward.
• Instagram, Facebook and Threads
Meta is a cruel mistress for cannabis creators. The platforms under Zuckerberg’s Meta umbrella — Instagram, Facebook, and Threads — all have the same draconian policies against weed. Its Community Guidelines on Restricted Goods and Services reads: “Meta does not allow ads that promote or offer the sale of THC products or cannabis products containing related psychoactive components or drug-related paraphernalia, such as bongs, rolling papers, and vaporizers.”
Instagram is one of the most widely used apps in the world with over 2 billion monthly active users. Against all odds, building an Instagram community remains an invaluable tool for the weed movement. Since its inception, cannabis creators have cultivated massive followings, only for their accounts to be taken away without notice. It’s a painful reality. Fast Buds lost 250k community members due to account deletion this year. A statement we’ve grown all too familiar with in the cannabis industry: follow our backup account.
Final Thoughts
My last bit of advice? Stay the course. Social media is a worthwhile venture. Get creative, reimagine your content and expand the way you think of community building. No matter the platform, the weed community will keep growing.
