Twitter Engagement: Some Lessons from AIDS.gov

By Michelle Samplin-Salgado, AIDS.gov New Media Strategist

A couple of weeks ago I participated on a panel with our CDC colleagues Ann Aiken and Jessica Schindelar about Twitter monitoring, evaluation, and engagement at the CDC’s National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media. During this panel I spoke about “engagement” on Twitter – providing different definitions of it and how we at AIDS.gov work to engage our Twitter followers (and here are the slides ).

Tweetup Discussion at IAC

by Miguel Gomez, AIDS.gov Director and Michelle Samplin-Salgado, AIDS.gov New Media Strategist

Tweetup discussion at IAC

Early before the start of the International AIDS Conference Scott Sanders, who provides lead communications support to the International AIDS Society, organized a "Tweetup" for individuals tweeting from the conference. Some represented organizations such as UNAIDS (@UNAIDS) , amFar(@amfAR) , Doctors without Borders (@MSH_IAC) , AIDS Atlas (@HIV_ATLAS) , British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (@bccfe) , and those working on the Vienna Declaration (@vdelc) . Others were tweeting as individuals (@allissaadler) , researchers (@dadakim) , evaluators(@marierenaux), and advocates(@mmontaner) .

Facilitated by amfAR's Jirair Ratevosian(@JRatevosian) , the meeting was an opportunity for us to share lessons learned, best practices, and tips about how we manage and evaluate our work on Twitter. The IAS has committed resources to evaluate how people are engaging with social media in general and Twitter, in particular, at the conference. We will share the findings from that evaluation in a future post.

Action Across the Sectors: Highlights from National HIV Testing Day 2010

By Deb LeBel, AIDS.gov Partnerships Specialist

Each year I am honored to see all the ways individuals and groups take action for National HIV Testing Day (June 27) — from conversations with loved ones, to getting tested, to attending or organizing local HIV testing events, to hosting press conferences, to convening online events. This year, I was particularly excited to see so much involvement from so many diverse stakeholders — government (Federal, state, and local), community, private sector, and individuals. We were inspired by CDC’s Dr. Kevin Fenton’s remarks during our National HIV Testing Day webinar for Federal employees and grantees on the current and future state of HIV testing.

National HIV Testing Day Twitter Town Hall Recap

Susan Robinson, MS, NCHHSTP

Guest post by Susan J. Robinson, MS, Associate Director for Communication Science, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

This year's National HIV Testing Day is now behind us, but what a whirlwind of events and activities! This year, we saw an unprecedented use of social media to get out the NHTD message, Take the Test. Take Control. One in particular was highlighted in the May 25th Blog: The NHTD Twitter Town Hall. It was a great success, thanks to key partners such as the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), AIDS.gov, and the technical acumen of folks at CDC's National Prevention Information Network (NPIN), who hosted the event. Being at "tweet central" for the town hall at the NPIN Atlanta office was enlightening!

Without further ado, here's what we learned:

National HIV Testing Day Twitter Town Hall - June 3, 2010

Guest post by Karen Resha, MA, Lead Health Communication Specialist, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC

Karen Resha, MA, NCHHSTP, CDC

On June 3, 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through our National Prevention Information Network (CDCNPIN) will host its first Twitter Town Hall in preparation for the 2010 National HIV Testing Day (NHTD). We are inviting you to attend this exciting event, but first let me answer what may be your first and basic question: “What is a Twitter Town Hall”?

As a Lead Health Communication Specialist at the CDC, I have heard of Twitter. I even have an account. But have I used it? Not really. I must admit that I am a novice. What I do know is that a Twitter Town Hall is not simply tweeting (sending short messages), but tweeting with a focus, for a set period of time, on the same topic, with other people and organizations on Twitter. Twitter has an impressive reach of more than 100 million users worldwide — so these Town Halls have the capability of reaching an unheard of number of people and being perhaps the largest Town Hall ever held. Both President Obama and the First Lady have hosted town halls and/or discussions via Twitter.