# UTILIZING TWITTER TO IDENTIFY AND RECRUIT YOUNG BLACK MEN AT HIGH RISK OF HIV INFECTION

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2020 · $247,500

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The disproportionate incidence of HIV/AIDS among Black men underscores a dire need
for technologically innovative and culturally-responsive approaches to reduce HIV in Black
communities. There is evidence that social media platforms such as Twitter may offer an
unprecedented opportunity to identify and recruit young Black men (YBM) at elevated risk, but
to date there is a dearth of empirical evidence to support that social media based-recruitment
using natural language processing is feasible and/or acceptable. On social media platforms like
Twitter, young men share substance and sex related content. We propose mining these Twitter
posts to identify YBM who may be at risk of elevated HIV, based on their substance and sexual
risk posts. This study will serve as a proof of method to test the extent to which we can identify
and recruit YBM based on their social media posts. We will extend and calibrate our “High-Risk
Language” (HRL) algorithm to identify users who post HIV-risk related language on Twitter.
Those who agree to participate and deemed eligible will complete a qualitative interview and in-
person study visit which includes HIV testing, multi-drug screening, and a survey of their sexual
risk and substance use behaviors. Our primary outcomes are; (1) condomless (and/or without
PrEP) vaginal or anal sex and (2) illicit drug use before or during sex. We will assess the yield
and accuracy of our HRL algorithm at identifying YBM at risk, compared to their biomarkers and
surveys. This work will test cutting-edge research tools aimed at increasing the rigor and
precision of online recruitment efforts to reduce HIV in the Black community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10214087
- **Project number:** 7R21DA049572-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Robin Stevens
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $247,500
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2019-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10214087

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10214087, UTILIZING TWITTER TO IDENTIFY AND RECRUIT YOUNG BLACK MEN AT HIGH RISK OF HIV INFECTION (7R21DA049572-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10214087. Licensed CC0.

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