“TikTok was the first place I had ever said ‘I am HIV positive’ out loud. I could never say it before,” said Marlon Van Der Mark, who was diagnosed with HIV at 20 years old.
December 1 is World Aids Awareness Day. HIV is a virus that, if left untreated, damages the immune system and can progress to AIDS, which can be fatal. When untreated, HIV can be transmitted sexually or by sharing needles for drugs. Since 1980, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has taken the lives of more than 36 million people, according to the World Health Organization.
Nowadays, HIV is a manageable condition, but too many people are still without treatment, or don’t know their status by simply not getting tested. To increase awareness about HIV and encourage testing, public health creators are taking advantage of TikTok and other social media to reach underrepresented groups, particularly young adults and marginalized communities.
TikTok, a popular short-form video platform founded in September 2016, has been a longtime home for HIV+ creators and organizations. In December 2019, for World Aids Awareness Day, TikTok donated $1 for every video uploaded with the hashtag #MakeItRed, up to $500,000. Since the campaign launched, videos tagged with #MakeItRed have been viewed more than 2.9 billion times in total, according to TikTok.
Jennifer Vaughan (@jennifer.vaughan) is a teacher who was diagnosed with HIV and AIDS in 2016. “I got it from sex from an ex-boyfriend. I didn’t know he had it, and now I have it,” she said in a TikTok. “I was full of shame, disgust, and regret thinking about my life with this new diagnosis.”
Vaughan started making TikToks in March 2020, and today, she has over 160 videos and 84,900 followers. Vaughan’s videos explore many dimensions of HIV and her life, often touching on deeply personal topics, including: “Do I disclose [my status] to sexual partners?” “What happens if I stop taking my HIV medication?” “AIDS vs. HIV?” In a recent TikTok called “interview with my infector,” Vaughan reconnected with her ex-boyfriend to talk about their HIV statuses (and potentially rekindle a relationship).
Since her diagnosis, Vaughan has found strength in her HIV status. “The greatest news is that this virus is so suppressed that when they test me for it, it looks like I don’t have it,” she said. “It’s called undetectable, which means I cannot transmit the virus sexually.”
According to the CDC, people living with HIV can have normal, healthy lives thanks to advancements in medical treatment. With treatment, people living with the virus cannot transmit the virus sexually to another person.
“I have no shame about my diagnosis nor should anybody else out there who’s diagnosed with HIV,” Vaughan said. “It’s a completely manageable condition today.”
Marcus Muhammad (@marcusmuhammad7) contracted HIV at birth and is now 28 years old. Muhammad started making TikToks only last month, but he already has over 60 videos and 56,400 followers. Muhammad’s videos are uplifting, focusing on chasing ambition and his relationship with Christianity.
“I was diagnosed with HIV at birth, and the doctor said I wouldn’t live to be an adult,” Muhammad said in a TikTok. “The number one thing I had to have to continue to prosper, to be here today with a wife and children, is faith.”
Muhammad’s mother passed the virus to him at birth, and his mother contracted it from sharing needles for drugs, he said. His mother passed away when he was 2 years old, and he was adopted at 7 months old.
“My biological aunt, who was my mother’s sister, would always tell me that [my mother] hated this disease, that she wanted to be free from it. And [my mother] feared that nobody would ever love her again,” Muhammad said. “And I think that desire for wanting to be healed, for wanting to get rid of this disease, was passed down to me. That’s what’s fueling me. That’s why I have the passion to not only be free from this disease, but also to help others overcome HIV and other afflictions.”
Jay Hawkridge (@jayhawkridge), who is in his late 20s, was diagnosed with HIV in October 2019. When he was told the news over the phone in his early 20s, Hawkridge felt like his life was over, and he began abusing drugs. It took several months of reflection, as well as sharing the news to his family and friends, to begin feeling confident with himself, he said.
“After publicly stating my diagnosis, I’ve come to realise that most young people today hide their diagnosis,” Hawkridge said in a November 2020 Dazed Digital article. “This led me to start BPlus, an Instagram page and blog designed to educate anybody wanting to listen to the realities of living with HIV today. Later, it developed into a TikTok account which amassed 250,000 views in its first week. That might not seem like a lot, but for me it’s a stark reminder that people want to educate themselves on this topic.”
Hawkridge’s TikTok account currently has 137,200 followers and over 600 videos, and his most popular TikToks regularly amass 500,000 views. On Wednesday, SkyTV premiered the first episode of the documentary-series “Positive,” which features Hawkridge’s story as well as the stories of “some of the earliest HIV patients and real-life heroes to tell the tragedies and triumphs of Britain’s 40-year battle with HIV,” said SkyTV.
“I live with HIV so confidently that I do not hide anymore,” Hawkridge said. “I feel no shame for catching it, because all I did was have unprotected sex, and I know I’m not the first person to do that. I used to think of it as bad luck. Now I see it as a rebirth.”
Get tested for HIV! To find the nearest testing center near the university, visit gettested.cdc.gov. As of December 2021, Stevens does not offer HIV testing.
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