Saturday, June 27th was National HIV Testing Day (NHTD). For the past month, we've focused on real stories by real people about what taking an HIV test meant to them, through our “I Know, I Took the Test ” blog series and widget. We highlighted real personal HIV testing stories collected by organizations such as The Positive Project, Southern AIDS Living Quilt, National Association of People with AIDS, and POZ. We've been moved by the stories of people young and old, heterosexual and gay, male, female and transgender, people from different races and ethnicities, and people who have tested positive and negative for HIV. We've been inspired by their courage in offering their stories to all of us.

To help share these very powerful and personal messages, we employed new media tools such as Twitter , widgets, ecards, virtual worlds, enewsletters, and this blog. We worked with our CDC colleagues to create the widget that airs the stories from the “I Know. I Took the Test” blog series and then shared the widget with our Federal and community partners.

And after we planned and promoted and shared, we waited to see if these stories would spread. We hoped that people would hear them. And we hoped that people, just like you, would share your own stories.

And you did.

You shared the stories, the messages, and the importance of storytelling – of talking about what matters – by grabbing hold of what we offered. You capitalized on the new (and old) tools to get the word out. June 27th was an “old” – long-established – awareness day in a new era of communication and engagement, supported by new media tools.

Nearly 200 of you embedded the widget in your blogs and websites, resulting in over 8,463 views. You blogged and your readers told more stories and added their voices. You used Twitter and the #NHTD09 hashtag to tweet and re-tweet about National HIV Testing Day . You shared the link to HIVtest.org and told and encouraged your friends, family, and loved ones to text their ZIP code to KNOWIT (566948) to find a HIV testing center near them. Community Voice Mail broadcasted a voice mail to their clients about HIV testing and, in return, they heard from some of the hardest to reach people – those that do not have a phone – about why HIV tests matter to them.

We were heartened by PatientsLikeMe , who asked their community to share their HIV stories. And their community responded by saying things such as, “I think [testing] is probably the single most important thing a person can do for him/herself. The test will show if a person is infected, important knowledge no matter how it turns out.” And another wrote, “Getting tested for HIV is so important. The knowledge of knowing can make a difference as to how you will live your journey in life.”

As the AIDS.gov team's Awareness Days Director, I work year-round to help promote all the Awareness Days. On the day after, I always peek at the Day's preliminary results and achievements. The merger of “old” and new media strategies is one of the NHTD successes this year. The old strategy? Storytelling to communicate messages. The new strategy: new media tools applied to the need to increase HIV awareness. Let us all hope the results were “I Know. I Took the Test.”

Whitman-Walker Mobile HIV Testing Van

National HIV Testing Day was last Saturday. All month we've encouraged people to listen to real stories from real people about what taking an HIV test means to them. We used a widget to show short videos of both HIV+ and HIV- people sharing their stories about getting tested. And as we moved towards the end of this 4-week National HIV Testing Day blog series, we also listened to the President of the United States talking about his experience taking an HIV test.

I wanted to add to this conversation and share my experience as a gay man getting an HIV test last week.

I went to the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington, DC and—with their permission—filmed my HIV test (I'll be posting the video later this week). The test was a quick, painless finger stick and 20 minutes of waiting for my test result. But even as someone who was already confident about knowing my HIV status and gets tested as part of my routine health check-ups, I felt anxious going into the test. While the waiting period was brief, each minute was heightened as I eagerly waited to get my results. But hearing the results meant to me that I can take control of my health. And it reinforced for me that what I am doing to protect myself is working.

Whitman-Walker Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center

I know that stigma is still an issue—even for those of us who address HIV and AIDS every day. In fact, when I told other people that I would be getting an HIV test and filming it, a long pause in the conversation almost always followed.

The videos, this blog, and our HIV story initiative, "I Know. I Took the Test." is an attempt to address that stigma – to provide stories of real people like you and me. Peer-to-peer sharing is a cornerstone of new media. Through this blog, we can continue to share our experiences and respond to HIV through new media channels.

I hope that our widgets, videos and blog this past National HIV Testing Day have inspired you to take an HIV test-- not just on this past Saturday, but year-round.

Throughout the month of June, we've been asking people to share their HIV testing stories.

Today, in recognition of National HIV Testing Day, President Obama released a special video message about the importance of HIV testing and his own experiences getting an HIV test in Kenya.

The White House has used Twitter , YouTube and other new media tools to get the word out about this video and to spread the word about the importance of knowing your HIV status. We encourage you to watch the video and share it with your friends, co-workers and family.

To find a local HIV testing site, send a text message with your ZIP code to KNOWIT (566948) or visit www.HIVtest.org.

Back in March, we shared videos from The Positive Project in honor of National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Watching those videos reinforced the power of sharing personal stories about HIV through new media -- and helped inspire our “I Know. I Took the Test” initiative for National HIV Testing Day. Today I'm pleased to share some insights from The Positive Project's Tony Miles as part of our month-long series about HIV testing story initiatives:

1. What inspired you to start The Positive Project?
   As a psychologist who works with HIV-positive persons, their powerful and useful thoughts and words compelled us to find a way to connect HIV-positive persons with those who can benefit from hearing them.


2. Why are you using new media to share those stories?
   New digital media has been the lifeline of this project. It has made a digital archive possible so people can search by demographics, topics, or both, and find tailored messages, depending on the targeted audience they are trying to reach.



3. What have been some results and/or lessons learned for the HIV community so far?
   An HIV-positive participant told us that participating in this project had been the singular most life-affirming experience in 20+ years of living with HIV. The videos have been viewed by people from around the world who have told us they have found comfort in hearing from others. We have also heard that the videos have, in some cases, allowed people to disclose their status to others, get an HIV test, seek medical care, have hope, stay alive, and not feel alone.


4. Where would you like to see the project go next?
   We would like to see the video archive continue to grow and become an integral supplement to all HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and care efforts. HIV has lost its face and this project puts it back. It reminds us we are all in this together and that HIV-positive persons, if given the change, can be a part of the solution.
   
   The website can be used for any efforts to raise awareness, reduce stigma, promote prevention, encourage testing, and enhance care. The site currently houses over 1500 video clips. Initiatives or campaigns can find HIV-positive persons speaking out on a range of topics to assist others. We encourage you to look, listen, learn, act.

The Positive Project's videos demonstrated one of the most important reasons to get tested: If you test HIV positive, you can live a longer and healthier life with treatment. Thank you to Tony and The Positive Project contributors for sharing these powerful stories.

Check out our NHTD story widget to see story videos and to add the widget to your site! Looking for your local HIV testing center? Send a text message with your ZIP code to “KNOWIT” (566948) or visit www.hivtest.org .

Have a comment about The Positive Project? Have you been tested for HIV and want to share what it meant to you? We welcome your comments in the comments section below.

Jena Ball and Michelle Samplin-Salgado in Second Life

We’ve shared HIV testing story intiatives from the Southern AIDS Living Quilt, POZ magazine, and the National Association of People with AIDS leading up to National HIV Testing Day. Today’s post will take us “in world” to some virtual testing day story initiatives happening in Karuna , the National Library of Medicine’s island for AIDS outreach and information in the virtual world of Second Life. Though these stories are from avatars , they are equally as “real” as the others we’ve shared. I spoke to Jena Ball, Project Coordinator of Karuna (Jenaia Morane in Second Life). She told me about the Karuna’s new story initiative, “Healing Quests” that was launched in honor of National HIV Testing Day:

• 

  Aerial image of Karuna Island

  What is the Healing Quest initiative?
  “Healing Quests” are part of the ongoing efforts at Karuna to celebrate the lives of those dealing with HIV and AIDS. Participants in the quests embark on a journey of self-discovery designed to help them tell stories.
• What inspired you to develop an HIV story project in Second Life?
  There is a small but growing number of people dealing with HIV/AIDS who have come to Second Life to explore and find sources of community and support. I have heard many stories from people dealing with HIV/AIDS. It was incredibly healing to write about my own experiences losing a friend to AIDS. I thought, ”what if we used stories to help us think about and see the events, situations, people, and yes, HIV, as lessons we can learn from?”
• 

  Image of Karuna

  How is telling stories in Second Life different from real life? Or is it?
  Telling stories is universal. The marvelous thing about Second Life is that you can tell your story in so many ways. For example, if I felt like I was under a cloud of depression, I could create a virtual cloud and record my voice talking about how I feel. Second Life is not just one tool - it’s many different tools. A real example of this in Second Life is Cancerland. Your avatar can walk through the story of how a woman was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer. It’s very powerful. I personally think that Second Life is very real. It’s just a different kind of real. We just have different things to learn about ourselves here.
• If someone is interested in sharing their story in Second Life, where can they find more information?
  This month’s quest is entitled “TESTED,” and began at midnight on Thursday, June 4th and continues through midnight on Thursday, June 25th. All participants will have the option of having their stories shared in Karuna Garden of Experience, the Poetry/Story Garden, and Gallery on Storybook Island (all in Second Life).

If you’re new to Second Life, Virtual Ability Island has a helpful tutorial and orientation center. The Non-profits in Second Life wiki also had a list of resources about getting started in Second Life. Then visit us in Karuna or Storybook Island . For more information about Karuna please contact Jena (aka Jenaia Morane in Second Life) or by Jenaia@karunahiv.com.

Have you been in Second Life? Interested in learning more? We welcome your stories in the comments section below! And check back next week to learn about more ways people are sharing their personal HIV testing stories.

Looking for your local HIV testing center in real life? Send a text message with your ZIP code to “KNOWIT” (566948) or visit www.hivtest.org.