A University of Minnesota researcher has linked an increase in HIV to the personals section in Craigslist.

Craigslist is a popular website where numerous communities conduct the everyday business of life. These include locating affordable apartments, selling household items, buying cars and, yes, finding people with whom to have sex.

Like Us on Facebook

Jason Chan, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, checked the data from 1999 to 2008 and found when Craigslist set-up shop in a new cities, HIV numbers went up, resulting in a 15.9 percent increase in HIV.

The study, "Internet's Dirty Secret", discovered that Craigslist transactions are linked to more than 6,000 cases of HIV infection nationwide each year, resulting in as much as US$65.3 million in annual treatment costs.

"I actually think that the creators of Craigslist had no intent of harming society. They came in with good intentions. At the same time, they did not anticipate that users could use the features in an unexpected way with unintended consequences," Chan said in a news release.

Chan, along with colleagues, analyzed data in 33 states between 1999 and 2008. Because Craigslist enters a community with existing HIV trends, researchers were presented with a unique opportunity to measure how the site seems to influence a given market after its arrival.

The study notes a one-year delay exists between the arrival of Craigslist and an increase in HIV cases in a particular community. Chan attributes the delay to the time it takes for the site's local popularity to grow and for infected individuals to get a diagnosis, according to the Star Tribune.

Chan believes the study illustrates the need for healthcare professionals and policy makers to be more aware of the social routes where diseases like HIV can spread.

The study was published in the December 2014 issue of MIS Quarterly.

TagsCraigslist, HIV, AIDS, online activities, Craigslist personal section, Internet’s Dirty Secret