TY  - JOUR
AU  - Witkovic, Yong Darin
AU  - Kim, Hyunjin Cindy
AU  - Bright, Darius Jovon
AU  - Tan, Judy Y
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/4/8
TI  - Recruiting Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) Couples via Dating Apps: Pilot Study on Challenges and Successes
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e31901
VL  - 6
IS  - 4
KW  - African American
KW  - sexual and gender minorities
KW  - homosexuality, male
KW  - HIV
KW  - mHealth intervention
KW  - mobile applications
KW  - apps
KW  - sexual partners
KW  - investigative techniques
KW  - community engagement
KW  - MSM
KW  - Black men
KW  - mobile app
KW  - LGBT
KW  - research methods
KW  - recruitment
KW  - online dating
KW  - social network
AB  - Background: HIV disproportionately impacts Black men who have sex with men (MSM), and targeting the primary relationship (ie, couples) using mobile technology for health holds promise for HIV prevention. Web-based recruitment of MSM is commonly employed in HIV prevention and intervention research. However, little known about recruiting Black MSM couples on the internet in the United States. Objective: This study describes the process of recruiting Black MSM couples over social networking and dating apps frequented by MSM. We describe the activities for recruiting, screening, and enrolling participants as part of a randomized trial employing a multipronged recruitment approach. Methods: Black MSM in couples were recruited via three apps (ie, Jack’d, Adam4Adam, and Growlr) between May 2020 and March 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Black MSM couples were eligible if one or both partners are Black, MSM, and living with HIV, and if both partners were 18 years or older, and have been together for at least 2 months in what they both consider a primary relationship (ie, one in which both partners reported feeling most committed to over any other partner or relationship). Results: A total of 10 Black MSM couples (n=20) were enrolled via social networking apps. App recruitment activities were a combination of passive (eg, in-app advertisements) and active (eg, direct messaging of users) engagement. Recruitment approaches varied by the social networking app owing to differences in app features. A full-time recruiter experienced challenges such as bugs (ie, technical errors in computer program or system), navigating technical requirements specific to each app, and web-based harassment. Conclusions: Despite challenges, it was possible to recruit Black MSM couples virtually into research as part of a multipronged recruitment strategy. We identify tips for using web-based dating and other social networking apps as part of a recruitment strategy in future research with Black MSM couples. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2022/4/e31901
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/31901
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35394432
DO  - 10.2196/31901
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/31901
ER  -