Navigating Social Media in Sexual Health Advocacy: Balancing Influence and Integrity
This #SexualHealthWeek, I’ve been contemplating what information I want to share, the role I hold in this space, and the impact I want to leave in 2020. What stood out to me most wasn’t necessarily STIs, or even sexual health, but the relationships that we hold between sexual health advocates and social media.
Becoming a sex educator, therapist, blogger, or influencer is increasingly popular on Instagram. It’s hip to partner with companies and receive free sex toys to review, the latest lube to try with partners, podcast interviews to join, or coupon codes to offer our followers. These are all opportunities that I am offered on a regular basis, of which I mostly decline.
Social media, more specifically, Instagram, is a critical tool for bridging the gaps in our sex education and making space for the sex ed we’ve always deserved but never received. For nearly all of us, this requires significant unlearning.
Our consumption of sex ed on social media can be just as unhealthy as the relationships we hold with our partners, friends, and family members. We consume content without critical thought, & without question or regard for content creators’ backgrounds or intentions. For so many, this is the first, real exposure to what sex ed could have & should have looked like. With this in mind, it’s easy to see how sex educators are idolized by their followers. I often find myself questioning, is this advocacy or fame?
At this time, I’d even argue that it’s “trendy” to talk about herpes on social media. It seems that, almost daily, there is a new herpes account that surfaces. Many of these pages promote awareness & are hoping to break stigmas.
At first glance, these pages fill a severe lapse in sex ed classrooms—narratives around STIs. However, as I have seen over the years, these pages also have the potential to cause irreparable harm to their followers. Those that claim a cure for herpes (there’s not one, bye). Those that monetize *their* experience (typically straight, white women preaching love & light ✌🏻) —delete, block, hypnosis? see ya. Those that spew off facts & content without a clear goal or aim in their presence.