Vaccine Recruitment: The Online Journey of Young LGBTQ+ Men

Reaching out to young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) has always been a challenge for researchers. This group, often labeled as "hard-to-reach, " can be effectively tapped into through the internet, given its widespread use among them and young adults in general. Internet recruitment has emerged as a crucial method to engage this community. However, there's a lack of understanding about how participants recruited through different online sources might differ from each other. The internet has opened up new pathways for recruiting MSM for research studies, particularly those related to health interventions like human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Young men from this community are heavily present online, making web-based platforms an ideal ground for reaching them. But the question remains: do participants recruited from different online sources share the same characteristics and levels of engagement in these studies?Recent studies, including a randomized controlled trial, have shed light on this issue. They found that the characteristics of participants and their engagement in the study varied significantly based on the online recruitment source. This variation highlights the importance of considering the source of recruitment when designing and interpreting research studies involving MSM. It also underscores the need for tailored recruitment strategies to better engage and retain participants from this diverse community. Understanding these differences can help researchers create more effective and inclusive recruitment strategies. It can also lead to more accurate and representative study results, ultimately benefiting the health and well-being of the MSM community.