Methods for Measuring Diffusion of a Social Media-Based Health Intervention

Sean D. Young^1*, Thomas R. Belin², Jeffrey D. Klausner³, Thomas W. Valente⁴

¹UCLA Center for Digital Behavior, Los Angeles, USA.
²Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
³Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
⁴Department of Preventive Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/sn.2015.42005                

Abstract

This study evaluated the feasibility of measuring diffusion from a social networking community-level intervention. One year after completion of a randomized controlled HIV prevention trial on Facebook, 112 minority men who have sex with men (MSM) were asked to refer African-American and/or Latino sex partners to complete a survey. Results suggest that, compared to non-referrers, referrers spent more time online, controlling for age, race, education, and condition. Over 60% of referrals reported hearing about the intervention, and over half reported that the referrer talked to them about changing health behaviors. Results provide support and initial feasibility of using social networking for diffusing community-based HIV interventions.

Keywords

HIV Prevention, Social Networking Technologies, Diffusion of Innovations

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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