Researchers Working On Facebook App To Tell You Who Has STDs

Imagine being able to download a Facebook app that would alert you to your sexually transmitted infection risk based on your friend?s status updates. This may sound far-fetched, and it still is, but as some researchers shift their focus to risk among friend groups, as opposed to just sexual partners, social networks are rapidly becoming a tool to prevent the spread of STIs.

Peter Leone, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina?s Center for Infectious Diseases, is one of those experts. Earlier this month, he spoke at an international health conference and underscored the importance of exploring such possibilities.

Real-world social networks ? in other words, a person?s circle of friends and sexual partners ? have already proved to be strong predictors of STI risk, he says. It follows that sites like Facebook, which convene all of those real-world connections in one virtual setting, have huge potential in this arena.

Read the full Salon article here.