%0 Journal Article %@ 14388871 %I JMIR Publications Inc. %V 16 %N 5 %P e117 %T Using Online Social Media for Recruitment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Participants: A Cross-Sectional Survey %A Yuan,Patrick %A Bare,Michael G %A Johnson,Mallory O %A Saberi,Parya %+ Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, Box 0886, San Francisco, CA, 94122, United States, 1 415 597 8177, parya.saberi@ucsf.edu %K HIV %K AIDS %K online social media %K Facebook %K Twitter %K recruitment %K Internet research %K survey retention %K online data collection software %K non-financial incentives %D 2014 %7 01.05.2014 %9 Original Paper %J J Med Internet Res %G English %X Background: There are many challenges in recruiting and engaging participants when conducting research, especially with HIV-positive individuals. Some of these challenges include geographical barriers, insufficient time and financial resources, and perceived HIV-related stigma. Objective: This paper describes the methodology of a recruitment approach that capitalized on existing online social media venues and other Internet resources in an attempt to overcome some of these barriers to research recruitment and retention. Methods: From May through August 2013, a campaign approach using a combination of online social media, non-financial incentives, and Web-based survey software was implemented to advertise, recruit, and retain participants, and collect data for a survey study with a limited budget. Results: Approximately US $5,000 was spent with a research staff designated at 20% of full-time effort, yielding 2034 survey clicks, 1404 of which met the inclusion criteria and initiated the survey, for an average cost of US $3.56 per survey initiation. A total of 1221 individuals completed the survey, yielding 86.97% retention. Conclusions: These data indicate that online recruitment is a feasible and efficient tool that can be further enhanced by sophisticated online data collection software and the addition of non-financial incentives. %M 24784982 %R 10.2196/jmir.3229 %U http://www.jmir.org/2014/5/e117/ %U https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3229 %U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24784982