Catching HIV Virus Has Gotten Easier Nowadays Getting an HIV infection is easier than it used to be, thanks to the internet. Craigslist personal ads in any market increases HIV infection rates by 15.9 percent, according to research by Jason Chan, assistant professor of information and decision services at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. The personals are invitations for relationships ranging from platonic to one-night stands.The researchers narroweddown the increase to the influence of the Craigslist personals, not the sites escort service ads. Their findings were consistent with other research that indicates that internet-facilitated sex workers arent as likely to engage in risky behaviors with clients. The research shows that the rise in HIV rates is consistent in 33 states over an eight-year period. The study was published in the Jan. 30, 2015, issue of MIS Quarterly. I actually think that the creators of Craigslist had no intent of harming society. They came in with good intentions, says Chan in the quarterly. At the same time, they did not anticipate that users could use the features in an unexpected way with unintended consequences. Chan and Professor Anindya Ghose of NYUs Stern School of Business based their claims after analyzing data in 33 states from 1999 to 2008. Because Craigslist randomly enters individual markets with respect to HIV trends, it provided a unique natural experiment setup from which the researchers could uncover the connection. When mapped nationally, more than 6,000 HIV cases annually and treatment costs estimated between $62 million and $65.3 million can be linked to the website, according the researchers. Our study results suggest that there is a new social route of HIV transmission that is taking place in this digital era, says Chan in the journal. Health care practitioners and policymakers have to look more closely at online platforms to assess how its usage may facilitate the spread of HIV and STDs across the country. According to Chan, the paper provides practitioners with insights on how they can effectively target their efforts to reduce disease transmission facilitated through classified ad sites. The Center for Disease Control has taken note of the findings and posted an early version of the paper its website. The paper is titled Internets Dirty Secret: Assessing the Impact of Online Intermediaries on HIV Transmission, Chan, J. and Ghose, A.,MIS Quarterly (December 2014) 