Youth Action Initiative of Massachusetts: Developing a youth-driven website

The Youth Action Initiative (YAI), funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and managed by The Medical Foundation, began in 2005 to create a statewide, youth-led movement on tobacco control and prevention. One of YAI's many activities involves the development of a youth-driven website. This website will connect youth to statewide tobacco control efforts and create an online community for YAI members and other youth involved or interested in tobacco control work. Social networking websites are highly utilized by youth today, as evidenced by MySpace and Facebook; YAI's website will follow a similar model and provide space for youth to find tobacco resources, connect with peers, and share ideas. The website development process has intentionally involved youth input at each stage. This includes statewide focus-groups to determine brand and creative direction, ongoing youth feedback on website components, and usability testing by youth. This unique youth-driven process is important for several reasons: 1) It empowers the youth engaged in the process with critical thinking and decision making skills; 2) It ensures that the website reaches and relates to diverse youth audiences; and 3) It creates a sense of youth ownership for the website. This process engages more youth in the anti-tobacco efforts throughout Massachusetts, which is the ultimate goal of this website. This website will provide lessons around utilizing youth-driven web technology in tobacco prevention and control efforts, and by extension, in broader health promotion efforts among youth.