Comments on: National HIV Testing Day Twitter Town Hall Recap

By: Denise

Denise — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:31:35 +0000

Wow, I am really impressed. Fantastic event!

By: Cynthia Newcomer

Cynthia Newcomer — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:15:05 +0000

Hi, I’m with CDC NPIN and am responding to Andrew Wilson’s questions on behalf of Susan Robinson who is away.
1) Community: Is there any indication that the event grew or strengthened the community working with HIV/ AIDS issues in substantial ways (i.e. did some of the orgs involved see changes in the size of their follower?).
Some of the groups involved, including CDCNPIN, did see increases in the number of their followers for this event. It was also observed that participants continued conversations with each other in the weeks after the Town Hall.
2) Any, even anecdotal (i.e. specific tweets), evidence that the event influenced test taking?
At this point, we are not aware of any anecdotes that suggest the Town Hall influenced test taking, though we do hope that greater awareness and sharing of ideas does affect behaviors in a positive way. Our goal for this Town Hall was to support and encourage organizations to promote NHTD and hold testing events. The level of participation tells us that NHTD is on the radar of many organizations and the goal to increase testing is shared broadly. One outcome to note is that a number of organizations who participated in the Town Hall did submit NHTD events via our form on www.hivtest.org after the event. So we are hopeful.

By: Andrew Wilson

Andrew Wilson — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:52:13 +0000

As always, great post.
A few follow up questions though that I am hoping will spark some conversation.
Twitter is an excellent tool to spread news, information and (hopefully) awareness. However, in most cases, the real objective is much larger than this. I would love to know more about the town hall and its possible impact on:
1) Community: Is there any indication that the event grew or strengthened the community working with HIV/ AIDS issues in substantial ways (i.e. did some of the orgs involved see changes in the size of their follower?).
2) Behavior Change: Any, even anecdotal (i.e. specific tweets), evidence that the event influenced test taking?
Thanks and keep up the great, inspirational work.

By: Roy Kamen

Roy Kamen — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:46:54 +0000

I agree – great event. Wish there were more like this. HIV testing is so important to the health of our nation.

By: Robert Dennin

Robert Dennin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:55:53 +0000

Enjoyed reading about your twitter town hall event for NHTD. Brilliant concept and well orchestrated. It appears that you connected the right people. The proposal to utilize YouTube is worth investigating. Thank you for the great service you are providing. Best Wishes for continued success.
Bob Dennin
Clinical Research Scientist/AIDS/Cancer