Can it work? Building the evidence to better understand how and if social networking can be...

Building the evidence to better understand how and if social networking can be

effective for sexual health promotion.

Can it work?

Web 2.0 and the internetHow have we done so far?Our Place on FaceSpaceQueer as FuckBenefits, Challenges and RisksOther approaches

Web 2.0 More than “just” Facebook

Dynamic vs. “static” Teaching vs. engaging

Web 2.0 vs The “old” internet

Kamel Bulos & Wheeler, 2010. The emerging Web 2.0 social software: an enabling suite of sociable technologies in health and health care education.

What evidence do we have to support heading to Social Networking interventions?

Social Networking Today

How popular is it in Australia?

Top Sites Accessed in Australia:◦ 1. Google.com.au◦ 2. Facebook.com◦ 3. Google.com◦ 4. Youtube.com◦ 5. Yahoo.com

Twitter #12, MySpace #29, Pornhub #53, Gaydar #2348


Accessed on alexa.com – May 24, 2010

User dataAverage Time Spent on Site Daily:

◦ Facebook – 32mins◦ MySpace – 12 mins◦ YouTube – 20 mins◦ Twitter – 7.75 mins

◦ The Drama Downunder – 3.5 mins/visit ◦ Wherever Sex Happens - 5.75 mins/visit◦ Protection.org.au - 7.3 mins/visit◦ Staying Negative – 8.75 mins/visit


Accessed on alexa.com and Google Analytics – May 24, 2010

User demographics


Accessed on alexa.com – May 24, 2010

GI JONNY (UK)

Some interventions so far...

Locally: The Horizon (Samesame.com.au with ACON) FaceSpace (Burnet Institute with VAC, Uni

Melb, X:Machine)

Project pages, groups, etc.

Some interventions so far...

Web 2.0 – Promising, exciting... but is not just a matter of dropping our existing Web 1.0 models into the new media.

So what evidence to we have to say that Web 2.0 will actually work for sexual health promotion?

Research project funded by the Victorian Dept. of Health.

Partnership between Burnet Institute, VAC/GMHC, University of Melbourne, and X:Machine.

Our Space on FaceSpace

1. Assess the extent that social networking sites can be used to disseminate health promotion information that is conducive to beneficial behaviour change;

2. Disseminate safer sex health promotion messages to a large number of young people and men who have sex with other men;

3. Engage sub-populations of young people and MSM who may not be reached by traditional health promotion efforts;

4. Explore interactive online social network sites as a forum for encouraging social participation and community engagement.

Our Space on FaceSpace Objectives

1. Preparation and Persona Design2. Participatory Design Workshops3. Character Launch4. Formative Evaluation5. Extension6. Final Evaluation

Our Space on FaceSpace Methods

5 different character profiles on Facebook and MySpace, and a communal project page.

Character videos

Sexual health polls

Appearances at community events – Big Day Out, etc.

Our Space on FaceSpace Youth Arm Highlights

Our Space on FaceSpace Youth Arm Highlights

Adapted from the learning from the Youth arm, changes were made to the approach for phase 2 for MSM.

Some major changes were made to the creative development process, and the intervention format.

Move into a more structured and centralized narrative and format.

Our Space on FaceSpace MSM Arm

Queer As F**k Pre Launch Promotion


Queer As F**k – 1157 fans as of May 25, 2010


Queer As F**k


More extensive version of the formative evaluation (see stage four), involving both quantitative and qualitative data collection.

In addition, a pre- and post- test survey among a sample of the page's fans will be conducted to assess the impact of the project.

Our Space on FaceSpace MSM Evaluation

Online survey covering demographics, sexual risk behaviour, knowledge of HIV and other STIs, health seeking behaviours, community dialogue and opinions of the characters. Repeated at 12mths.

The final evaluation will also explore how this type of project could be maintained over time, keeping the concept and the characters ‘fresh’ in order to maintain community interest and examine the ongoing feasibility of this type of health promotion.


Things to consider – discussion and interaction… what is “successful?”

Videos – YouTube Insight reports – are people watching the videos to completion?


Potentially cheap media Anonymity – (and lack thereof on Facebook) Will people engage with sexual health in

light of above? Privacy issues

Opportunities, Challenges and Risks

Facebook Ads – highly targeted and cost effective

Working with blogs to increase discourse and referral to projects.

Mobile web is an important consideration with regard to Web 2.0. How do we ensure functionality?

Grindr – advertising and broadcast messages

Other approaches and considerations

“Although the tools presented in this review look very promising and potentially fit for purpose in many

health care applications and scenarios, careful thinking, testing and evaluation research are still needed in order to establish ‘best practice models’ for leveraging

these emerging technologies to boost our …” sexual health promotion efforts.

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Can it work? Building the evidence to better understand how and if social networking can be...

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Can it work? Building the evidence to better understand how and if social networking can be...