This fall, a new Web site designed to improve the sexual health of gay and bisexual men will debut in Massachusetts. MassMen.net, a joint research project of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at the University of California-San Francisco and the nonprofit Internet Sexuality Information Services Inc. in San Francisco, will focus on HIV prevention and encouraging men to discuss their sexual experiences.

"We're trying to create a Web site that will help establish and reinforce safer sexual norms in the online gay community," said Greg Rebchook, a research specialist at CAPS.

MassMen.net is one of two Web sites serving as pilot programs for the project; CaliforniaMen.net is the other. Researchers will analyze site statistics and blog content, and willing users will be interviewed.

Still under development at present, MassMen.net will include blogs from a variety of men, including those who are HIV-positive, with topics ranging from general life issues and sexual experiences to attitudes about the Internet. Features such as an address book will allow users to create personalized databases that track their sexual encounters. Check boxes such as "unsafe sex" will trigger HIV testing reminders.

Rebchook said the site is completely secure. "It's all password-protected. All the information they put in there is their own information and not something we'll have access to."

"If it goes well and people like it, we'll try to design a more comprehensive online program in the future and more sophisticated evaluations of it," said Rebchook.

Back to other news for August 31, 2006

Search the Newsroom archive