Apps such as Grindr and Instagram are here to stay. The question is how HIV prevention advocates can get their messages out to users.
Apps such as Grindr and Instagram are here to stay. The question is how HIV prevention advocates can get their messages out to users. Image courtesy: Grindr


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Lee Storrow, the head of the NC AIDS Action Network, is in Durban, South Africa for the 2016 International Conference on AIDS to present his own research. This week, NC Health News will be featuring some stories from Lee about the conference and where North Carolina fits into the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

By Lee Storrow

The poster presentation section at the International Conference on AIDS is overwhelming. The five sections line the perimeter of the second floor of the convention center, a space twice the size of Raleigh’s Halifax Mall. Hundreds of posters are on display each day.

[pullquote_right]You can read the details of the results on LaGrand’s abstract here.[/pullquote_right]On Tuesday, I spoke with Dr. Sara LeGrand, Assistant Research Professor of Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute. She was presenting her research on whether the use of social networking (Facebook, Instagram) and dating/hook-up sites (Grindr, Jack’d) in young black men who have sex with men (MSM) in North Carolina could predict whether these men felt socially isolated.

Apps such as Grindr and Instagram are here to stay. The question is how HIV prevention advocates can get their messages out to users.
Apps such as Grindr and Jack’d are here to stay. The question is how HIV prevention advocates can get their messages out to users. Image courtesy: Grindr

The study reveals that young black MSM are, indeed, using social networking accounts and using those accounts may reduce these men’s feelings of social isolation.

Across the survey of N.C. teens, participants reported an average of 7.35 hours of Internet use per day and the average number of social networking platforms – such as Facebook or Grindr –  that participants used was 3.62. The study found that the more social network sites used translated into decreased feelings of social isolation, as well as increased searching for sex partners online.

“I think the results of this study are especially important for young people in rural areas of North Carolina who often face greater stigma around their sexuality,” said Dr. LeGrand.

Dr. Mehri McKellar and Dr. Jessica Seidelman present their research on the willingness of primary care providers to prescribe PrEP at the International Conference on AIDS in Durban, South Africa.
Dozens of North Carolina researchers are at the 2016 International AIDS Conference in South Africa this week. Here, Drs. Mehri McKellar and Jessica Seidelman from Duke University present their research on the willingness of primary care providers to prescribe PrEP at the International Conference on AIDS in Durban, South Africa. Photo credit: Lee Storrow

There’s been a lot of chatter about the rise of dating and hook-up apps and their potentially negative role in changing the nature of gay sex. At the same time, gay men in rural parts of North Carolina have limited support systems and often live in homophobic environments. If Grindr can provide even a limited outlet to remind a closeted gay man that he is not alone, it might be beneficial.

Dating and hook-up apps aren’t going away any time soon. HIV prevention advocates need to think about how to harness those apps to disseminate positive prevention messages and build support systems for those most at risk.

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