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Swipe Right on Safe Sex!

The first tool we created for our primary population was a dating app advertisement for our blog/website, where we would post information and resources about safe sex. The above video is just a draft, but in creating it, I thought a lot about what kinds of images would be relatable in context for people potentially with multiple sexual partners (or even those who don't, but still have the app downloaded). It was difficult to get the animation to a place where it was visually compelling, but the idea is that this advertisement would appear in the same format as someone's dating profile, and the message is to "swipe left" (reject) someone practicing unsafe sex, not using a condom, and that you should "swipe right" (attempt to "match" with) on those who do use condoms. "It's a match!" lights up the screen, resulting in a message that safe is sexy, and that you can visit our site to learn more about the campaign "Swipe Right on Safe Sex".

One thing I discovered in the process of creating this short animation is that many dating apps will allow you to buy advertising space for not a lot of money. There have been a few studies on the impact of Grindr advertising on attendance and HIV testing (Ubrihien, Stone, Byth, and Davies, 2020) and Grindr use in HIV prevention outreach (Hoenigl, Little, Grelotti, Skaathun, Wagner, Weibel, Stockman, and Smith, 2020), so I thought it might be a good idea to try to reach the same populations with safe sex messaging, something that isn't too scary or mood-killing, and something that can still stay positive and encourage their use of the app.


When researching advertising prospects on Grindr, it came to my attention that the swipe format isn't the same as on Tinder or Bumble. Instead, the app displays a grid of "who's nearby". The advertisement arm of the company, though, offers banner ads, full-screen ads, and pop-up message ads. They also don't have a minimum budget, so we could allocate as much or as little as we'd like to advertise on their platform.


We would hope that one of our partners, Project STAY, could help us apply for an Unrestricted Operating Support Grant. There are grants focusing on LGBTQ+ health and human services ranging from $250 to $2,500 that we would be eligible for. By forming these strategic partnerships while coming up with our messaging campaign, we are activating new media communication as well as community dialogue.


[Posted by Maya Osman-Krinsky]



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