Where's the Beef?

Putting my researcher hat on:

A news headline boldly proclaims that "Teens turn to Internet for sex ed." I would like to think that is true, but how do we know that for certain? This particular feature offers no evidence, simply stating that online sex ed is popular because there are symposia about it (note: a good friend of mine offers a symposium on barnyard animals in colonial art -- does that make IT a hot topic?). I can't find any information about searching for sex ed information online from Pew (the leader in all stats related to teens and technology, IMO); the only stat I have ever uncovered is from 2001 (ancient in internet time); according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 44% of teens have looked up information have looked up information on birth control, STDs, or pregnancy at least once. We need to update this stat and get at a broader understanding of how the internet is used to access information and support related to sexual health, sexuality, and sexual development before we continue throwing around allegations of its widespread popularity.

Reaching Teens

A question for the marketing people, who spend millions of dollars answering this question: How best to reach teens online with good information about their sexual health? Of course teens use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and others, but do they want to get information there? Would they "fan" or "friend" a site? For example, Sex Etc. has over 6,000 fans on its Facebook page. But as I scroll through them, a lot of them are older (indeed, I am one of them!). And when you consider that teens often average 100s of friends as an individual, you can see that Sex Etc.'s outreach is far from overwhelming.

It appears they do not use Twitter, so that is probably out. ISIS is trying to use cell phones/texts to deliver its messages about sexual health -- so are others.

As someone who is supposedly an expert at reaching youth, I find that I (and others) still struggle with the best ways to reach out.