New Media, We Are Convinced… Now How Do We Start?

By Jennifer Medina

Myspace. Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Just how does an agency fold these websites into their overall HIV prevention/education marketing plan? How does an agency make content that will attract their target population, while also educating and empowering them? These are just some of the questions faced when an agency decides to start to phase in new media into their outreach plan.

The silver lining is that many companies/organizations have already adopted new media as part of their HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns and these examples can help to frame an agency’s understanding of exactly how to do it. Mind you I say frame, not copy!! By understanding what has already been developed and implemented, an agency can work on not reinventing the virtual wheel.

One corporate example of pushing new media to new heights is MTV’s social networking community, ThinkMTV, www.think.mtv.com. Launched in September 2007, MTV is working to educate its’ build-in audience around such issues from voting to HIV/AIDS. Using their vast audience, ThinkMTV is using a multi-platform approach to educate young people around issues that matter to them. The website allows for youth generated content (in the form of vlogs, blogs, videos, and much more) to coexist alongside primary source material, providing a comprehensive understanding of an issue from many different points of view; all on one website!!

An international example of true incorporation of new media into HIV/AIDS prevention education is the “Condom, Condom!” cell phone ringtone (www.condomcondom.org) launched in four phases by the BBC World Service Trust, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This organization’s understanding of how cell phones are used by their target population allowed them to develop a prevention/education campaign that used in the best way possible one of the most portable vehicles of new media, the cell phone.

Now that we have looked at national and international examples of new media prevention/education integration, local examples are next. Make sure to tune in next week, same Bat time, same Bat channel….