Social Networking Fights HIV AIDS

A new initiative in New York City aims to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention using social networking tools such as YouTube. The "I Talk Because" video campaign will be announced on Tuesday, World AIDS Day, by New York City council speaker Christine Quinn, joined at City Hall by actors Rosie Perez (pictured), Veronica Webb, and HIV/AIDS activists.

The premise of the "I Talk Because" campaign is that open and honest communications can help prevent new HIV infections and reduce the stigma faced by people living with HIV/AIDS.

According to Quinn, the campaign aims to use person-to-person discussion especially to reach young people and communities of color, who are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS.

"If you're a young person and you watch these videos and you hear, for example, someone who has HIV/AIDS asking you to take steps to have safe sex, that's a powerful message we're not hearing enough," said Quinn. "I hope this will help us get the message out."

Participants are asked to upload their testimonials to the campaign's YouTube page, then submit the URL of their video via e-mail.

Information is also available on Twitter.

Actors Perez, B.D. Wong, and Alan Cumming and talk-show host Wendy Williams are among those who have already uploaded testimonials.

The city council and HIV/AIDS activists aim to make measurable progress by using the social networking tools throughout the yearlong project.

"One of the good things is you can easily gauge how many people post a video and how many people watch it," Quinn said. "I also hope we see some positive results as it relates to HIV infection rates."