NATAP: HIV/Sex-Social Media-Facebook/Twitter

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Subject: NATAP: HIV/Sex-Social Media-Facebook/TwitterHealth experts: Anonymity of social media helps spread HIVBy HardisonMay 23 2012BIRMINGHAM, AL (Fox-WBRC) - Technology can be great but also dangerous as many have seen with cellphones and distracted driving. Now something else you access on your cellphone can be dangerous. From Facebook to Twitter to Craigslist, social networking is the reason health officials say they're seeing a lot more cases of HIV."It allows anonymity," said Lee Eakins, program manager for the Jefferson County Health Department. "It allows a

person to go online and have sex without having to give any basic information about that."Jefferson County already has one of the country's highest HIV rates and now the number of HIV and STD cases are surging because it's easier than ever to find a random partner to hook up with."Some people are caught up in the heat of the

moment, just seeing a great description, a great picture," said Arthur Wynn, staffer at AIDS Alabama.What staffers at AIDS Aalabama have found is random encounters mean less responsibility."Sometimes when people walk in I ask them, 'Why are you here?'" Wynn said. "And they say ‘I received a text after the relationship was over, saying, '[i'm] HIV positive, get tested.' So we see that relationship between Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist and possible HIV infection," Wynn said."Basically when people have a face-to-face with you they're less likely to mislead you," Eakins said. "You tend to get more body language from someone and say there's something suspicious

about this person, whereas a person could disguise all of that online."To try and combat the surge, the health department and AIDS Alabama are using social networking to warn "before you engage in risky activities or meeting someone, it's kind of like that thing where if it's too good to be true, it's probably not good," Wynn said.