JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The structure of the sexual networks and partnership characteristics of young Black men who have sex with men (MSM) may be contributing to their high risk of contracting HIV in the United States (US). Assortative mixing, which refers to the tendency of individuals to have partners from one’s own group, has been proposed as a potential explanation for disparities.

Objective:

To identify the age- and race- related search patterns of users of a diverse GSN mobile phone application in 7 metropolitan areas in the US to understand the disparities in STI and HIV risk in MSM communities.

Methods:

Data were collected on user behavior between November 2015 and May 2016. Behavior on the application was collected for men who had searched for partners with at least one search parameter narrowed from defaults or had used the application to send at least one private chat message, and who had used the application at least once during the study period. Newman’s assortativity coefficient was calculated from the study data to understand assortativity patterns of men by race. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess assortativity patterns by age. Heat maps were used to visualize the relationship between searcher’s and candidate’s characteristics by age band, race, or age band and race.

Results:

From November 2015 and May 2016 there were 2,989,737 searches in all seven metropolitan areas among 122,417 searchers. Assortativity by age was important for looking at the details of candidates with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.284 (Birmingham) to 0.523 (San Francisco). Men tended to look at the details of candidates that matched their race in a highly assortative manner with Newman’s R coefficients ranging from 0.310 (Birmingham) and 0.566 (Los Angeles). For the initiation of chats, race appeared to be slightly assortative for some groups with Newman’s R ranging from 0.023 (Birmingham) to 0.305 (Los Angeles) (Figure 1). Asian searchers were most assortative in initiating chats with Asian candidates in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. In Birmingham and Tampa, searchers from all races tended to initiate chats with Black candidates.

Conclusions:

Our results indicate that the age preferences of MSM are relatively consistent across cities, i.e. younger MSM are more likely to be viewed and chatted with compared to older MSM, but that the patterns of racial mixing are more variable. While some generalizations can be made regarding online behaviors across all cities, city-specific usage patterns and trends should be analyzed to create targeted and localized interventions that may make the most difference in the lives of MSM in these areas. Clinical Trial: N/A