JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In recent years, social media has emerged as a pivotal tool in implementation science efforts to address the HIV epidemic. Engaging community partners is essential to ensure successful and equitable implementation of social media strategies. There is a notable lack of scholarship addressing the operational considerations for studies using social media strategies in community-partnered HIV research. This article aims to bridge this gap by consolidating field notes and practical considerations derived from three ongoing Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Center for AIDS Research/AIDS Research Center supplement projects.

Objective:

This article intends to inform the design, planning, and implementation of operationally effective community-partnered social media strategies in HIV research and practice, ultimately contributing to improved outcomes across the HIV prevention and care continua.

Methods:

Supported by the UCLA Rapid, Rigorous, Relevant (3R) Implementation Science Hub, the three EHE projects convened to form the Community-Partnered Social Media Campaigns working group. The working group used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to help identify and organize key barriers and facilitators of relevance to implementation of the projects’ social media strategies. Given the high degree of interrelatedness across reported factors, the working group thematically synthesized the content into five practical considerations for use of community-partnered social media strategies in HIV research.

Results:

The practical considerations identified by the CPSMC working group include: 1) the power and pitfalls of social media platforms (i.e., opportunities and challenges inherent to social media platforms that may affect use of social media strategies in HIV research); 2) messengers and messages matter (i.e., ensuring the appropriateness, acceptability, and quality of social media messengers and content); 3) the significance of the sociopolitical environment (i.e., characterizing the sociopolitical environment surrounding HIV and its potential impact on implementing social media strategies to reach priority populations) ; 4) investing in academic-community partnerships (i.e., cultivating positive and productive academic-community partnerships to support implementation of social media strategies in HIV research); and 5) the alignment of the institutional environment and research approach (i.e., assessing and working to address features of institutional environments that may impact implementation of social media strategies in community-partnered HIV research).

Conclusions:

As use of social media in HIV research and practice continues to grow, the practical considerations presented in this article can help studies anticipate factors that may impact implementation of community-partnered social media strategies and take early action to mitigate potential challenges. By understanding and addressing the unique challenges and opportunities of social media in community-partnered HIV research, we can leverage these platforms to accelerate progress toward ending the HIV epidemic. Clinical Trial: N/A