Background STDPreventionOnline. Org (STDPO) is an online professional networking web site for the sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STD/STI) work force, including researchers, clinicians, epidemiologists, disease intervention specialists, and programme managers. The site was developed by the Internet and STD Center of Excellence, originally funded by a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and currently sponsored by the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association. The site was a conceived as a two-way clearing house of current STD/STI information and resources, where members can both download and upload information in a variety of formats, including text, graphics, audio/video formats as well as post blog and forum entries. Membership to the website (www.stdpreventiononline.org) is free.

Objective To describe current users and usage of STDPO.

Methods Descriptive statistics were obtained from embedded website metrics and Google Analytics©.

Results Since its inception in 2007, the site has registered 3,587 users; the site’s monthly newsletter has over 4,100 subscribers. The predominance of members (92%) live/work in the United States; however a substantial number (387 as of February 2013), are non-US users with 52 countries represented. Most members (58%) work in STD/STI programmes in state/local health departments, 13% in community or private clinics, 11% in a university setting, 8% in federal government, and 8% in community organisations. During 2012, the site logged 8,240 site visits and 32,462, respectively 158 and 624 per week. To date 1,142 resources have been uploaded to the site which were downloaded 44,517 times, an average of 39 downloads per resource. Topics related to Internet use and online interventions are particularly popular, followed by clinical slide sets and podcasts.

Conclusion During the 5 years of its existence, STPDO has demonstrated to meet a need in the STD/STI professional community for an interactive, two-way, clearing house of STD/STI-related information.