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A qualitative study that recruited Black MSM through geo-social apps found that dating apps were a common way for participants to learn about PrEP. Īs an example, diffusion of innovations theory suggests that app users may be more likely to use PrEP if they see others including it on their profiles. Profile options also increase communication without relying on ongoing public health human and economic resources to support costly behavioral interventions, which often have low uptake and may reach only a small percentage of app users. Since transmission through a sexual network in part depends on the degree to which users who take occasional risks have sex with someone who takes frequent risks, facilitating explicit communication can help reduce unintentional mixing. For example, through viewing others’ profiles, a user may or may not choose to have sex with someone based on their sexual health strategies and practices, as well as drug and alcohol usage. In contrast to serosorting, which requires individuals to know their HIV status, users can and do use risk sorting by seeking out partners based on their sexual practices. This can also inform and facilitate risk sorting among men who wish to make a conscious choice about which partners to approach with regards to their sexual practices. They provide a useful alternative for individuals who may be reticent or find it awkward to discuss these topics verbally with a partner. Sexual health profile options vary from app to app, but usually include some or all of the following: disclosure of HIV status, usage of PrEP, having an undetectable viral load, willingness to use condoms, and date of last HIV and/or STI test. Dating apps have increased the number of specific fields for users to share information, both as the apps observe that multiple users are populating open fields with specific sexual health information, and due to advocacy from Building Healthy Online Communities, a consortium of public health organizations. With the advent of new technologies for identifying and meeting partners, there are new opportunities for MSM to exchange information with partners by using profile options before meeting and/or engaging in sexual activity. With a high volume of users, an efficient way to facilitate meeting new partners, expand sexual networks and connect users to prevention interventions and messaging, these apps have many features that can facilitate transmission as well as reduce it through providing structural features which facilitate communication among users regarding sexual health. App users are also more likely to be offered risk assessments for HIV and STI transmission during visits with their healthcare providers. Furthermore, previous studies indicate a correlation between app use and increased uptake of sexual health resources, including HIV testing and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
It is also unclear whether meeting partners online promotes high-risk behaviors or merely facilitates these behaviors among those who would be engaging in it regardless of their app use.
Other studies are more equivocal and have found that meeting partners online is not predictive of sexual risk behaviors. There is some evidence that MSM who use apps to meet partners are more likely to engage in condomless anal sex, have a higher number of sex partners and experience higher incidence of STIs, such as gonorrhea and chlamydia, as compared to those who meet partners in-person exclusively. Numerous studies, as compiled in one meta-analysis, have explored HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission risk among app-using MSM. The widespread adoption of smartphones and emergence of numerous apps marketed to MSM users has accelerated the popularity of online venues for MSM to connect with each other and in recent years, a very large proportion of MSM report meeting sexual partners online through dating websites or apps. MSM were early adopters of using the internet to meet sexual and romantic partners, going back to the early 2000s. Men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to experience a disproportionate burden of HIV infection.