In the summer of 2014 the social network “Secret” took Israel by a storm – Secret is an app that allows people to share posts anonymously without revealing their identities. But every social network has its dark side. Secret soon became a space where people spread ill-intentioned secrets about anyone, without being held accountable. One of the worst — outing HIV Positive Carriers against their will.

To stop this trend, the Israeli AIDS Task Force initiated a bold and unprecedented campaign. In a brave contrast to Secret's complete anonymity, HIV-positive carriers were recruited to the campaign and uploaded revealing status updates using their real names and photo, stating publicly — “I am HIV-positive and not ashamed.”

Thanks to the campaign, the tremendous support HIV-carriers received during the campaign was a powerful step forward in tackling the social stigmas against HIV and empowering those who need support to seek it.

the Israeli AIDS Task Force initiated a bold and unprecedented campaign. In a brave contrast to Secret's complete anonymity, HIV-positive carriers were recruited to the campaign and uploaded revealing status updates using their real names and photo, stating publicly — “I am HIV-positive and not ashamed.”

The posts received tremendous support from friends on all social networks and specifically on Secret. The media shared the story which led to broad exposure of the initiative and inspiration for other HIV-carriers to reveal themselves.

As an anonymous network that does not expose the number of views and 'likes', it is not possible to quantify the exact exposure figures. The posts themselves were shared by tens of users when the campaign launched and therefore made it difficult to quantify the data. However, the campaign's echoes throughout the web and the offline discussions surrounding it made it clear that there was a phenomenal impact that allowed Taskforce members to lead a significant and relevant discussion among the Israeli public.