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mtvU, Kaiser Launch AIDS Educational Online Game
by Eric Caoili [PC, Serious]
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May 1, 2008
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MTV college network mtvU and the Kaiser Family Foundation have partnered with AIDS resource POZ Magazine to release Pos or Not, an online game challenging HIV/AIDS stereotypes and breaking down the barriers that prevent discussion on the virus.
In the game, players meet with people around the country who share their backgrounds, half of them living with HIV and the other half not. Presented with a photo and a few personal details, players are asked to guess the HIV status of each participant.
The participants also reveal how they learned of their HIV status and how it has affected their lives, confronting stereotypes and emphasizing that the virus affects everyone. Each individual lets the player know that the only way to know your HIV status is to be tested.
Pos or Not also provides information about HIV prevention and local testing resources. Players are even participated to join the game and add their profile.
The game was inspired by the winners of the “Change the Course of HIV Challenge,” a competition asking college students to propose a game that would help educate people on and combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Pos or Not follows the success of Darfur is Dying, another mtvU student-developed game, which aims to spread awareness of genocide in Darfur.
"Pos or Not is an urgent analogue to HotorNot.com, designed to capture college students’ attention and harness the viral nature of the Web in the ongoing fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS,'" said Stephen Friedman, GM, mtvU. "Pos or Not was created to shatter myths, challenge assumptions and promote responsible sexual behavior – and we salute every participant, as well as the team of college students who conceived the game, for breathing life into it."
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