Let’s give the readers some context here. What is BHOC and how has your team partnered with Sniffies?
Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC) is a group of public health organizations working with dating websites and apps to address sexual and drug user health. We are even older than Grindr–our work started in 2009. We gather input from our public health colleagues and dating app users to work with dating app platforms on features, information and resources, and messaging about emerging health topics, like COVID and mpox.
We have partnered with Sniffies over the past several years on a number of projects, including adding profile fields like “practices” to help better communicate about sexual health, adding HIV/STI testing clinics to the Sniffies map, and messaging about mpox.
Sniffies and BHOC launched HIV testing kits earlier this year under the program TakeMeHome. Logistically, how does this program work? Which users are we trying to target with this program?
We started a self-testing program in 2020 because we asked dating app users what they wanted. They told us that ordering a self-test kit online would make it easier to get tested. Our program, TakeMeHome, offers HIV and STI self-testing, including labs for people who use PrEP, in certain state, counties, and cities. Self-testing works in one of two ways: one test we use gets someone HIV results in 20 minutes, right at home. Other tests involve taking a sample at home–usually a throat and anal swab plus a urine sample and fingerstick blood test–and sending them back to a lab to be analyzed.
We work with Emory, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other partners to offer HIV self-tests nationally–including in Puerto Rico–through Together TakeMeHome.
Our goal with self-testing is to make getting tested for HIV and other STIs–like gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and hepatitis C–easier than finding someone to hookup with on the apps. Most people can order a free self-test from us in under a minute. We also center discretion in our efforts to make it as private an experience as possible. We choose not to ask a lot of questions about people who order; instead, we focus on the basic information we need to get you the right test, to the right location, in the shortest amount of time.
Our goal is to reach people who aren’t able to or comfortable testing in traditional ways, like at a clinic or with their doctor. We also see that about 1 in 3 people in our programs have never tested for HIV or STIs before. We also center queer and trans people in our efforts, and our strong partnerships with dating apps have allowed us to do that.
BHOC worked with Sniffies to connect the CDC clinic database to the Sniffies Map–adding testing clinics nationwide to the Sniffies map and increasing accessibility to these spaces. Are there ways we could broaden this feature?
We love this project! We were so happy to work with Sniffies on this feature. Yes, there are lots of other ways we could broaden this project – there are directories for other supplies, like naloxone (a drug that prevents opioid overdoses), condoms, PrEP, and other ways to stay healthy. We also encourage our public health partners to develop more robust directories to make it easier to add these kinds of resources.
Your team has been actively working with dating platforms (not just Sniffies) to develop features that put users’ safety first, with one of these being the inclusion of ‘DoxyPep’ to users’ profiles. Why do you think Sniffies was a good partner to launch this initiative with, as this is the first gay dating app to do so?
DoxyPEP is a strategy where someone can take a common antibiotic–doxycycline–after sex to reduce their chance of getting three common STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. For a long time, condoms really were the only way to prevent these infections. DoxyPEP means that people now have more control over their health, even if they don’t use condoms.
Sniffies has been willing to be the first to try new things. There’s a reason the app is for the curious! While the research on doxyPEP is showing it’s effective and safe, there may still be hesitancy for companies when they are presented with relatively new information. Sniffies has always had an open mind on adding new features and working to educate users about new strategies to keep them as healthy as possible. It’s also not quite a secret that condoms aren’t always the first choice when it comes to cruising and obviously Pump & Dumps. DoxyPEP and broader sexual health education can help Sniffies cruisers keep doing what they love while taking care of their health.
Drug use is prevalent in the queer community, particularly in online hookup apps. BHOC and Sniffies recently launched new profile fields that allow users to indicate their comfortability with activities such as PnP. How did you decide to be so ‘forward’ with these fields, considering most (if not all) other apps don’t mention drug use explicitly on their apps?
We asked dating app users what they wanted! We invited a range of dating app users, regardless of their drug use preferences (they ranged from sober/no use to regular use to those looking specifically for PnP). One thing we heard while working on this topic was that people who were specifically looking to party didn’t want to connect with people who were uninterested in partying. It’s helpful to be able to share these preferences more directly through the app to ensure everyone finds what they are looking for.
We know this option won’t work for all apps. So we offered a list of 10 different recommendations so apps could find a solution that works for their members.
How can we encourage Sniffies users to complete (and update) their sexual health stats? Do you find that adoption of these profile fields is high/low?
We have seen over and over data that demonstrates that the more users complete their profiles, the more likely they are to find what they are looking for. With our partners at Emory, we participate in a national survey of 10,000 gay/bi individuals each year and we ask questions about the use of dating apps and features. We have seen an increase in awareness of and uptake of sexual health features on apps over the last 5 years. Most recently, the survey indicated that about 2/3 of all gay or bi dating app users reported using sexual health features on apps, including options like condom use, PrEP and being undetectable.
Also, with some BHOC staff being Sniffies users as well, we are always on the lookout for what what users are choosing to put in open-ended fields because they don't have profile field options built into the app. Are there ways we could help users make it easier and faster to communicate what they want or need? Our primary concern is that there’s a clear way for dating app users to make their voices heard, both to other users and the platform owners.
What’s one thing that users who use hookup apps would be surprised to know, specifically regarding sexual health?
There’s definitely a sense that talking about sexual health “gets in the way” of hooking up. But doing so can actually help you feel confident about what you want and how you want it. There can be anxiety when meeting up with new people–even if you’re regularly hooking up. Sometimes, we might regret not using a condom or not asking someone when they last got tested for HIV or STIs after the hookup glow wears off.
We definitely encourage people to practice talking about their health to get used to naming their needs, including if that’s writing those needs in their Sniffies profile. Some common ones might be talking about condom use, seeing if someone is on PrEP or is HIV undetectable, asking if they got tested recently, and confirming if drugs and alcohol are expected as part of the hookup. Here’s some ideas on how to talk to other cruisers about their health.
It also can be hot to talk about how you want to feel during and after hooking up. Do you want to feel spoiled? Dominated? Worshiped? Humiliated? Fetishized? It may not sound like it, but talking about your desires often is where conversations about consent and your boundaries can come up, as well as discussion of aftercare if that’s something you’re into.
How can BHOC x Sniffies help cruising, a fun, thrilling experience, account for all parties' health and safety? Are there safeguards that could be added to ensure physical spaces are also safe? Do we think making these spaces ‘too safe’ could deter from the enjoyment/purpose of these spaces?
Cruising is exciting for the same reasons that it can make us vulnerable. I think that Sniffies cruisers could definitely bring us into a new era of cruising, where we are able to negotiate our safety before we meet up, get help if we need it after, and not sacrifice our pleasure. This might look like having personal safety plans in place, whether or not you communicate them to people you’re meeting offline.
It also means we should be looking out for each other. If you’re at a group event or out with other cruisers, prepare for how you would stand up to someone experiencing abuse, harm, or stigma. Just because cruising is typically anonymous doesn’t mean it has to have the cruelty that online anonymity has gained a reputation for.