Differences between Internet samples and conventional samples of men who have sex with men: implications for research and HIV interventions

The Internet is becoming a new erotic oasis for obtaining sex online or in person. We reviewed the literature on cybersex and compared differences in data from samples of homosexually active men obtained on identical question naires from a conventional written questionnaire, distributed through the m ailing and contact lists of a large national gay organization in Sweden, an d through the same organization's website and chat room. A total of 716 wri tten questionnaires and 678 Internet questionnaires were obtained. The Inte rnet sample was younger, more likely to live in small towns or cities, live with parents or a girlfriend, and have lower formal education. They are le ss likely to have previous sexual experience solely with other men (one in three of the Internet sample vs. 1 in 14 of the written sample defined them selves as bisexual) and more likely to visit erotic eases such as bathhouse s, video clubs and erotic movie houses. They also visited Internet chat roo ms more frequently (86% of the Internet sample vs. 50% of the written sampl e). One third of the Internet sample wanted the opportunity to talk with an expert about HIV compared with a quarter of the written sample. Sexual pra ctices between the two samples were generally similar, although the Interne t sample reported significantly less body contact, kissing, hugging, mutual masturbation, and more condom use for anal intercourse with steady partner s. Over four times as many of the Internet samples reported sex with women in the past year as the written sample. These data indicate that Internet d ata collection is feasible and that this mode of data collection, despite t he nonrandom and self-selected nature of both types of samples, is likely t o be more significantly oriented toward the young, geographically more isol ated, and more behaviorally and self-identified bisexual respondent than co nventionally distributed written questionnaires. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.