Strengths and advantages of online outreach over face-to-face outreach included anonymity, instant access to services, peer model, and accessing hard-to-reach populations of MSM.
Service providers suggested a high demand for online outreach services for MSM. Thematic analyses were conducted inductively using NVivo 10. ASO online outreach providers and managers (n = 22) were recruited to complete a 1-h in-person/telephone interview to explore in-depth their experiences with, and perspectives on, delivering online outreach services for MSM in Ontario. Data were drawn from the qualitative arm of the community-based Cruising Counts study conducted across Ontario from December 2013 to January 2014. We provide an overview of the unique perspectives of online sexual health outreach, delivered through AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) through sociosexual Internet sites and mobile applications. Given persistently high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates among MSM, it is important to examine the role of online outreach for MSM as part of HIV prevention and care. The Internet is a common tool for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) to find sexual partners and sexual health information.