Social Media Overview

The HIV Alliance of Lane County was founded in 1994 when several AIDS service providers merged to form the only nonprofit health organization whose mission is to support individuals living with HIV/AIDS and prevent new infections in the area.

The alliance works with volunteers and community partners to offer health care and advocacy to those affected by HIV, as well as community education, outreach, information and services designed to empower individuals to make healthy choices.

One area that has not been explored in depth by the organization is the use of social media as a component of its outreach programs.

Social media are becoming a major component of information dissemination, and many organizations are finding it impossible to successfully reach their audiences without the use of new methods of communication that build on traditional models. Developing strong knowledge and use of social media practices would ensure that the alliance grows and adapts to the changing information needs of its audiences.

In recent years, HIV Alliance has been doing some social media outreach to local gay, bisexual and transgender men, as well as self-identified men who have sex with men (MSM), through an online chat room. These outreach sessions happen three times a week in two- to three-hour intervals. While this gives the organization the opportunity to interact with members of a specific online community, it has limitations that prevent it from being an effective tool for the alliance’s larger audience.

The alliance also uses a MySpace page where it has more than 300 friends, including similar organizations, to reach out to the community. However, there is a lot more to social media than simple outreach, and the alliance could be doing more to utilize them effectively.

One of the key benefits of using social media is the ability to track word-of-mouth identification. Social media provide direct access to consumer opinion leaders who share their ideas faster than through traditional media. Tracking their opinions and concerns is important to every organization. Through tracking, the alliance will be able to prevent or quickly address crises that may occur.

Another benefit of social media is the ability to integrate various formats to most effectively communicate with an audience, (i.e., combining video and text). This allows for creativity, versatility and contributions from the people with whom the organization is working.

The use of a network of social media will also allow the alliance to establish itself as a thought leader in the community.

The recommended social media strategy includes a blog that uses personal experiences and years of service to the community to develop an authoritative voice. Through this, the alliance can establish itself as the local leader in services to people living with HIV/AIDS and those most at risk for infection.

Target Audiences

Although the alliance works to provide its services to several audiences in the community, this strategy will focus on gay, bisexual, transgender, MSM individuals and sexual partners of individuals living with HIV/AIDS. It is designed to be a model for similar programs that may be implemented for other audiences and in different communities.

According to information from the Oregon Department of Human Services, on Dec. 31, 2006, there were 270 individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Lane County. Also in 2006, according to the ODHS, three self-identified MSM were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Lane County. In Oregon, MSM is considered to be the most at-risk population because national and local data show that it is one of the populations most affected by HIV/AIDS, representing roughly 45 percent of people living with the disease.

Because identifying MSM can be difficult, there is not much accurate data available on the size of the gay, bisexual, transgender and MSM population in the area. However, based on the data presented and by using the situational theory of publics, we can consider this an active population because it has high problem recognition, low constraint recognition and high involvement in the issue.

Objective

To more effectively communicate information pertaining to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment to local gay, bisexual, transgender and MSM individuals through the development of a broader communications network.

Strategy

Active Listening:

The use of an aggregator, a tool that allows for content monitoring, will give the alliance the ability to identify key words, topics and organizations to keep track of through media coverage. It will also allow the alliance to monitor coverage of its own activities within the community. Google Reader would be an excellent choice for the alliance because of its features and compatibility with other Google applications.

Outreach:

In addition to tracking, the alliance should comment on and actively participate in discussions taking place in relevant forums. This will help it develop a relationship with other bloggers and opinion leaders in the HIV/AIDS community.

Engagement:

A blog will serve as the primary resource for people in Lane County living with HIV/AIDS, prevention educators and specialists, and people looking to get involved in supporting the alliance’s mission.

The first step in implementing this strategy would be to identify a person or several people who would be responsible for producing and monitoring content on the organization’s blog and social networking site profiles. This could be a staff member, a community member who is interested in sharing his/her experiences or a combination of the two.

Next, the alliance would need to identify the theme of the blog. It would include links to other community organizations, local hospitals and opinion leaders on the subject of HIV/AIDS education and treatment.

It should have a conversational tone. Provide all the information and insight found on the alliance’s Web site and from its staff. It could be a forum for guest commentaries and community participation. It should also be topical, addressing trends in research, treatment options and trends among people living with the disease.

As part of its blog, the alliance should establish a list of relevant blogs and informational sites that it can regularly monitor. This will allow the alliance the opportunity to interact with opinion leaders and similar organizations by commenting on posts and developing a rapport with bloggers who write about topics of interest to the alliance and its audiences.

In addition to the blog, the alliance should develop a Facebook page (most likely in the form of a nonprofit group, not as an individual), where it can network with local members of the college, high school and professional communities. This is an informal community where the alliance can establish itself as a resource, as well as publicize services, events, opportunities and workshops.

The alliance already has a presence on MySpace, but it could use some development and synergy of content with the other social media being utilized. Although it provides great information, it repeats the same information that can be found on the alliance’s Web site. In addition, the presentation does not reflect the gravity of the topic being discussed, nor does it attract serious attention.

Tactics

The following tactics should be considered when implementing the alliance’s social media strategies. There should be some content and presentation overlap between the multiple facets of the alliance’s social media presence that establish a unique identity for it to be easily recognized and trusted.

Blog:

Our blog should have a clean presentation that represents the organization appropriately. It should include a page that describes the history and mission of the organization, as well as why it has created a blog. It should have a calendar that features upcoming alliance and community events, as well as a space where visitors can contribute (pending a content review).

Featured widgets (blogging tools) should include a Technorati link, an RSS feed and links to relevant Web sites, (e.g., the University of Oregon Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Alliance). They should include at least three content categories, such as community, education and policy.

The blog needs to be interactive and user-friendly. Content needs to be accurate and comprehensive without relying too much on text. To achieve this, the alliance can provide in-text links to its Web site and video components.

Facebook:

The Facebook page should be established as a group, not as an individual. It should feature the history and mission of the organization, and why it chose to use Facebook. The page should include relevant news feeds and events, as well as photos and interactive content.

MySpace:

The alliance’s MySpace page needs additional information and appropriate content. It features a cartoon character, which should be removed, and the content doesn’t focus on current information. The site should include the history and mission of the organization, as well as a description of why the organization chose to use MySpace.

The alliance should also work to provide up-to-date statistics for Lane County. The links provided on the Web site and throughout its social media presence should serve to provide further information beyond what is given.

Evaluation

Due to limited resources, the alliance’s evaluation methods will be limited.

For quantitative analysis, we will track visits to our blog and Facebook and MySpace pages, and mentions of the alliance on Google Reader. We will also track the number of friends on the MySpace and Facebook pages to quantify how many people are aware of the organization and its services.

For qualitative evaluation, we will track comments on the blog, Facebook and MySpace pages. When necessary, the alliance will respond appropriately.

Appendices

The following is a suggested list of blogs that the alliance can monitor and reference. They represent some of the leading voices in HIV/AIDS education and outreach. It would be a good idea for the alliance to develop relationships with these and other organizations and opinion leaders to better serve its audiences, as well as expand its influence.

The Health Care Blog

http://www.thehealthcareblog.com

The author of The Health Care Blog, Matthew Holt, has many years of experience in health care-related industries and is now one of the most respected independent voices in the health care industry. Following the Health Care Blog would be beneficial for the HIV Alliance because it offers news on and insight into the U.S. health care system.

Who’s Positive

http://www.whospositive.org/journal

Who’s Positive began as an outreach program in 2003 and became a nonprofit in 2005. It works to reach out to youth in high schools and colleges with the support of partner organizations throughout the country and world. Who’s Positive presents personal stories from young people living with HIV/AIDS and could be a great resource for young people in Lane County who use the HIV Alliance’s services.

The POZ Blogs

http://blogs.poz.com

The POZ Blogs is a forum where people living with HIV/AIDS write about their experiences. The contributors are leaders and activists in the HIV/AIDS community. Monitoring this blog and developing relationships with the writers will be a great tool for the alliance’s education programs.

The About.com Guide to HIV/AIDS

http://aids.about.com/blog

The About.com Guide to HIV/AIDS is written by Mark Cichocki, R.N., who has been writing the blog since 1999. It is an informational page that explores the newest trends in treatment, research and health tips.

The Princeton AIDS Initiative Blog

http://blogs.princeton.edu/pai

This page was developed as part of the Princeton AIDS Initiative. It covers international AIDS issues and policies, as well as what’s being done on the Princeton campus regarding HIV/AIDS prevention, education and research. This page will be relevant for the alliance’s work with the University of Oregon campus community.

2sides2ron

http://ronhudson.blogspot.com

Author Ron Hudson writes about his experiences as an HIV-positive man in North Carolina. It covers a range of topics that focus on validating the lives of positive people.

Visual AIDS

http://www.thebody.com/visualaids/about.html

Visual AIDS was founded in 1988 as a way of organizing artists, organizations and audiences to fight the effects of AIDS on the arts community.

The AIDS Awareness Blog

http://aidsawareness.typepad.com

This is a blog where the author provides links to various HIV/AIDS resources and aggregates articles and information about prevention, education and policy developments.

(Blog) Red

http://joinred.blogspot.com

This is the blog of the Red Campaign, which works to eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa. This could be a great information resource for the alliance, as well as a provider of outreach and event ideas.

HIV/AIDS, Deafness & Disabilities: HIV/AIDS and Disabilities Blog Carnival

http://hivdeaf.blogspot.com

This is a site that investigates the connections between disabilities and HIV/AIDS. It provides fascinating statistics and information on communicating education and prevention messages to disabled communities. This could be a great resource for the alliance if they choose to reach out to the deaf/disabled communities.

Code of Ethics

The blog will require a code of ethics to maintain the validity of content and prevent inappropriate interaction with members of the organization’s target audiences.

1) The blog will only feature factual information.

2) The opinions of the writers are their own; however, it should be expected that they reflect the mission and values of the alliance.

3) Where appropriate, sources will be cited.

4) The writer will never engage in arguments or inappropriate exchanges in this space.

5) All posts will be edited with respect to presentation and content.