With over half of all of Americans over the age of 12 using online social networks, there is no doubt that social media plays an ever increasing role in how the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC ) reaches our constituents. And, for that matter, how our constituents use social media to promote high impact HIV prevention services.

In 2011, NMAC’s Division of Community Advancement and Leadership Strategies (D-CALS ) noticed an increasing trend in the use of social media by our constituents. In response to this, we developed the first part of our HIV Goes Social series: HIV Prevention Goes Social: Using Social Media to Create, Connect and Come Together (PDF).

The toolkit was our proactive solution to introduce major social media tools, and advocate for a strategic approach when incorporating social media into prevention efforts. Our goal was to help you understand the conversation, to learn who was leading the conversation, and most importantly: to find your voice in what can often be a noisy field.

The response to the toolkit was tremendous. Many of you are already using social media, but found the information regarding strategy and metrics especially beneficial to your programs. Throughout the toolkit, available here, we encouraged you to get to know the basics which paved the  way for more in depth questions as we furthered your social media capacity building. With this came the realization that we had more work to do. Thus, the follow-up workbook, HIV Prevention Goes Social Part II: Social Media Strategy, Policy, & Monitoring (PDF). Based upon your feedback, we created more activities and tools to assist you in implementing tailored solutions for your organization. These tools and activities will support your success in developing a social media policy, and enhancing the strategy and evaluation of your social media efforts. We have also included case studies, examples of social media in action, to highlight the work of your colleagues and inspire your own programs.

Part of the thrill of social media is the constant state of change and innovation. However, what will always remain the same are the fundamentals of strategy, policy and evaluation. We hope this workbook provides you more insight as you continue on your social adventure. If you will be at the upcoming 2012 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA ), please stop by the NMAC booth for a copy of the toolkit and workbook, or stop by the AIDS.gov booth for new media technical assistance.

For questions or to request capacity building assistance on the HIV Goes Social series, please email: d-cals@nmac.org.

Attending USCA? NMAC’s workshop, “HIV Prevention Goes Social Part II: Social Media Strategy, Policy & Monitoring” will be on Tuesday, October 2, 2:30-4pm in Milano 1 on the Promenade Level. Visit the AIDS.gov USCA page to find about our activities.