NYC Uses Social Networking on AIDS

Celebrities and activists in New York are turning to social networking to overcome fatigue about AIDS awareness.

"The goal of this campaign is to get New Yorkers talking to each other every day about HIV," says city councillor Christine Quinn.

The campaign, "I Talk Because," encourages New York residents to share why the HIV epidemic is important to them through the use of video posts. The site has about 50 videos and is targeting 500 by World AIDS Day, 2010.

Several prominent New Yorkers helped announce the campaign, including Harlem council member Robert Jackson, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center executive director Wendy Stark, actor B.D. Wong, and actress Veronica Webb.

Webb used the opportunity to talk about the importance of the epidemic to her as a mother of 7- and 5-year-old girls and the friend to several people who lost their lives to HIV. "It's responsible to talk, and it's good to talk," she said.

Quinn notes that the campaign has not been adapted for use in public schools, but she suggests that additional information on the issue would be forthcoming.

"There is concern on a lot of different levels that overall we aren't doing as well as we should as it relates to health curriculum on HIV/AIDS and other areas," Quinn says.

To view campaign materials, visit www.youtube.com/italkbecause, www.facebook.com/italkbecause, or www.twitter.com/italkbecause.