Adolescents, Social Media, and Internet Slang: Communicating Health Messages Through Text Symbols

• In Event: Children, Adolescents, & the Media Division - Research Escalator Sessions (Panel 2)

Abstract

Kenya’s young people are at the center of the HIV and AIDS epidemic due to their likelihood to engage in high risk behavior (NASCOP, 2012). Despite the fact that there has been a 19% decrease of new HIV infections countrywide between 2013 and 2015, an increase has been noted among young people between 15 and 24 years. Mass media and social marketing campaigns have been identified as effective interventions targeted towards reducing sexually risky behavior among adolescents (National AIDS Control Council, 2015). Similarly, Text messaging has been identified as the most used social media platform by teens (Carroll & Kirkpatrick, 2011) throughout the country. To effectively communicate HIV risk to adolescents in Kenya, this study will investigate if using text symbols often referred to as cryptic language used for chatting, email and texting is more effective than using ordinary text.

Author

• Mercy Chiyumba Khasiani, Daystar U