Social networking sites may facilitate the spread of sexually transmitted disease, but these sites also serve as effective education and prevention tools. So has social media helped or hurt the HIV community? According to Simon Rosser, director of the HIV/STI Intervention and Prevention Studies (HIPS) Program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, that’s the wrong question to ask. “Something as complex as new technology and media, it’s like asking the question, ‘Is the Internet good or bad?’ It’s just too simplistic a question when framed that way,” says Rosser. On the other hand, “asking what are the effects of the Internet, how is it changing society, and what are the benefits and risks inherent in it is very, very helpful, even critical.”