Social media interventions to prevent HIV: a review of interventions and methodological considerations

• Social media interventions to prevent HIV have been implemented and evaluated in a range of settings.
• HIV prevention social media interventions focused on safe sex, safe injection, and increased HIV testing.
• Key delivery modes include innovation contests, peer mentors, and online networks.
• Privacy issues, biomarker collection, low use by key populations are constraints.

Persistent new HIV infections and risky behaviors underscore the need for enhanced HIV prevention. Social media interventions may promote safe sexual behaviors, increase HIV testing uptake, and promote safe injection behaviors. This review discusses how social media interventions tap into the wisdom of crowds through crowdsourcing, build peer-mentored communities, and deliver interventions through social networks. Social media HIV prevention interventions are constrained by ethical issues, low social media usage among some key populations, and implementation issues. Comprehensive measurement of social media interventions to prevent HIV is necessary, but requires further development of metrics.