Beginning in 2009, npT labs will be working with Advocates for Youth and the new Morning Foundation to develop a replicable new media sexual health campaign targeting the general elevated trend in STD and pregnancy rates among young adults in South Carolina.   The South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy consistently shows pregnancy and HIV/STD infections as persistent problems that affect South Carolina young adults (ages 16-24). Three to four percent of underage South Carolina females (ages 10-17) and as many as 10% of young adult females (ages 18-19) reported being pregnant in 2006. About one in three of them will have a repeat teen pregnancy and one in five in as short as three years after their first delivery.

As for HIV and STD infections, youth aged 19 and younger were responsible for about 33% of new Chlamydia cases and 20% of new gonorrhea in 2007. Nationally, both teen pregnancy and HIV/STD infections have been found to disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities. As a corollary, of the HIV/AIDS cases among South Carolina youth, about 83% were among young African Americans. Considering these startling statistics, new prevention programs and interventions must be created to stem the growth of these problems in youth.

To this end, we seek to develop a replicable intervention that builds on the confluence of three technology trends among youth: gaming, cell phones and social networking. Over 95% of teens ages 12-17 play computer, web, portable, or console games. Nearly 48% play using their cell phones. These trends cut equally across all ethnic, gender and racial groups (Pew Internet & American Life, 2008).  This is made possible by the increasing popularity of "smart phones" with added capabilities such as operating systems, internet access, GPS, graphic cards, and motion detectors. About 20% of all cell users have a smart phone with 49% of those studied planning to pick one up in the next year (Kelsey Group, 2008).  Market projected prices for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Treo are expected to fall in the range of "free with contract" to $99 by 2010. The final growing trend concerns popular social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook, which combined are estimated to serve 175 million.  Approximately one in four Americans have a MySpace profile, regardless of ethnicity or race.  In South Carolina, 256,000 youth aged 13 to 24 have a Facebook Account.  Nearly 400,000 are listed in MySpace (Nov., 2008). Both mediums present a captive audience that spends up to two hours a day swapping messages, playing games, and browsing profiles.  All three mediums are rapidly converging.  As an example, the iPhone top ten downloads includes Facebook and MySpace, as well as 8 games.  It is predicted that the smart phone will eclipse the desktop as the number one way to interact with friends on social networks in two to three years (Techcrunch Oct 2008).

To address the confluence of gaming, cell phone and social network adoption among youth, we will create a two-part program: 1. a health services locator by zipcode accessible via text message, WAP site or embeddable web 'widgets'; and 2. a viral 'leveling' game distributed via smart cell phones, Facebook, and MySpace. 

Our goal is to develop the program in South Carolina and then expand it to other states beginning in 2010.