Stand By What You Say

MTV has a new initiative to reduce HIV transmission. A worthy cause to support an interesting initiative. Anyone can call Stand By What You Say and record a short message. A nifty little software called SpinVox turns your message into text, which is then posted on the homepage.  Everyone who contributes is asked to give a small donation.

It’s being billed as a blog of sorts, but it’s not really a blog in the normal sense of a blog, because there are potentially millions of contributors.  But the focus of everyones contribution is supposed to be about sex – and the site is supposed to be an outlet for supportive safe sex.

So far there are only a handful of contributions on the first topic (sex secrets).  But I am honestly surprised by the quality of the messages and the supportive nature of the comments so far.  Maybe this is because the service has gotten more calls from the UK than the US so far?  (There are also numbers to call if you’re in Canada, Spain, France, Germany, and Ireland.)

This seems like the sort of thing that could really take off and be wildly popular, or the sort of thing that could languish in the section of the Internet labeled “Boring and Unused.”

I called Stand By What You Say, along with a friend, but my post hasn’t shown up on the homepage yet.  Maybe I’ll let you know when it does.  I’d love to hear from others who call and leave a message.  How do you feel about the experience?

About Karen Rayne

Dr. Karen Rayne has been supporting parents and families since 2007 when she received her PhD in Educational Psychology. A specialist in child wellbeing, Dr. Rayne has spent much of her career supporting parents, teachers, and other adults who care for children and teenagers.