HIV Secret

Background

I am HIV-Positive and It's Not a Secret. In the summer of 2014 the social network "Secret" took Israel by a storm – Secret was an app that allowed people to share posts anonymously without revealing their identities. But every social network has its dark side. Secret soon became a space where people spread ill-intentioned secrets about anyone, without being held accountable. One of the worst — outing HIV Positive Carriers against their will. 

Idea

To stop this trend, the Israeli AIDS Task Force initiated a bold and unprecedented campaign. In a brave contrast to Secret's complete anonymity, HIV-positive carriers were recruited to the campaign and uploaded revealing status updates using their real names and photo, stating publicly — "I am HIV-positive and not ashamed."

Results

The revealing updates took Israel by a storm. The posts received tremendous support from friends on all social networks and specifically on Secret. The media shared the story, which led to broad exposure of the initiative and inspiration for other HIV-carriers to reveal themselves. Thanks to the campaign, the trend of outing HIV-positives became quite rare, and no longer a trend. Most importantly – the tremendous support HIV-carriers received during the campaign was a powerful step forward in tackling the social stigmas against HIV and empowering those who need support to seek it.