Social Media Use and HIV-Related Risk Behaviors in Young Black and Latino Gay and Bi Men and Transgender Individuals in New York City: Implications for Online Interventions

Abstract

Urban young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and transgender women continue to experience high rates of new HIV infections in the USA, yet most of this population is not reached by current prevention interventions. The rate of Internet and social media use among youth is high. However, continually updated understanding of the associations between social media access and use and HIV risk behaviors is needed to reach and tailor technology-delivered interventions for those most vulnerable to HIV-racially and ethnically diverse urban YMSM and transgender persons. Thus, we conducted an in-person, venue-based cross-sectional survey among young gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals at locations primarily visited by Black and Latino gay and bisexual and transgender individuals in New York City to understand social media use and how it may relate to HIV risk behaviors to inform social media-based interventions. Among 102 primarily Black and Latino gay and bisexual men (75.5 %) and transgender women (19.6 %), over 90 % were under 30 years of age, 18.6 % reported homelessness in the past 6 months, and 10.8 % reported having HIV. All participants used social media, most accessed these platforms most often via a mobile device (67.6 %) and most logged on multiple times per day (87.3 %). Participants used social media to seek sex partners (56.7 %), exchange sex for money or clothes (19.6 %), and exchange sex for drugs (9.8 %). These results confirm prior studies demonstrating the feasibility of using social media platforms to reach at-risk, urban youth. Of particular concern is the association between recent STI and exchanging sex for money/clothes and drugs. Interventions using social media for young, urban minority MSM and transgender populations should incorporate risk reduction modules addressing exchange partners and promote frequent and regular HIV/STI testing.

Mobile Phone and Internet Use Mostly for Sex-Seeking and Associations With Sexually Transmitted Infections and Sample Characteristics Among Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men in 3 US Cities

“…19–21 Also consistent with other studies, STI prevalence was particularly high among HIV-positive MSM, 22–23 and similar to other samples of black and Hispanic/Latino MSM. 19–21 Almost one-quarter of black and Hispanic/Latino MSM reported use of both computer-based Internet and a mobile phone for mostly sex-seeking purposes. This indicates a high level of engagement in and utilization of technology-aided sex-seeking among many black and Hispanic/Latino MSM.…”

Low Awareness and Use of Preexposure Prophylaxis in a Diverse Online Sample of Men Who Have Sex With Men in New York City

“…However, we found similar rates of PrEP awareness in other studies in New York City using different recruitment approaches (Grov et al, 2016; Mantell et al, 2014; Rucinski et al, 2013). Additionally, a prior in-person survey of Bronx MSM found widespread use of social media, with individuals using online dating applications having higher rates of risk behaviors (Patel et al, 2016), suggesting we reached a population that could benefit from PrEP. Second, our survey was designed to be extremely brief to increase participation rates; we were thus unable to capture additional covariates of interest.…”

“…This finding highlighted the uneven dissemination of HIV prevention information, especially to younger MSM and addressing this gap will be critical to prevent further exacerbation of HIV disparities by age. Social media and geo-social networking applications are likely efficient dissemination tools for health information to younger and racial/ethnic minority MSM and warrant further exploration (Patel, Masyukova, Sutton, & Horvath, 2016). …”

What would you choose: Online or Offline or Mixed services? Feasibility of online HIV counselling and testing among Thai men who have sex with men and transgender women and factors associated with service uptake

“…Being TGW was another strong predictor for choosing online, supervised, HIV self‐testing in our study. High Internet and social media usage patterns among TGW and its potential to reach and provide non‐judgmental support to TGW was reported in earlier studies . TGW who considered taking an HIV test as a way to living healthy life were also more likely to choose online services.…”