Utilising social media to support HIV/STI prevention : evidence to inform a handbook for public health programme managers

This report frames social media as an important tool not only to communicate, but also to monitor topics of discussion, prevalent sentiments, and define the characteristics of social networks among young people around different topics. Different social media platforms are also understood to offer unique and distinct channels of communication to build relationships with selected audiences and measure the impact of both message delivery and behaviour change. For the purposes of defining eligibility criteria for study participants, we use the United Nations official definition of 'youth' as any individual from 15 to 24 years old; however, youth should not be seen as a homogeneous category within or between countries and cultures. It is a socially constructed concept incorporating a wide variety of meanings, practices, and connotations. This report will use the term 'young people' in light of this plurality and diverse subgroups, also recognising that today's young people are more gender-fluid than has been the case in previous generations. It is beyond the scope of this study to develop a taxonomy for different youth groups in Europe, unless they emerge in our research and guidance document as having a particular relevance to social or sexual networking. Restrictive identity categories have been shown to be of limited usefulness in sexual health promotion. The searches were not limited to any specific sexual orientation among youth. The report also recognises that ECDC has already produced studies about men who have sex with men (MSM) in Europe and draws on those resources.