You have one new message (and maybe an STD)

Discussing sexually transmitted diseases can be awkward, uncomfortable and wholly unpleasant.

But one Web site is trying to make it a little easier through an eCard service.

Inspot.org, a Web site developed by the Internet Sexuality Information Services, Inc., allows users to select from among six different eCards to let their partners know something might be wrong - down there.

The Web site came about as a result of a 2003 study that found high STD occurrences among those who found partners via the Internet, according to Jaime Lebrija, new media technician for I.S.I.S.

"We figured we should use the tools people were using to find their partners online," Lebrija said.

Inspot.org currently receives 750 views daily, according to Plos Medicine, a peer reviewed open access journal, and since 2004, over 30,000 people have sent over 49,500 e-cards.

Though developed in 2004, the site recently received a lot of attention after Plos wrote about the notification service in mid October.

The site allows people who have contracted an STD to send cards - which range from quirky emoticons and graphics to the more serious messages - to current and former sexual partners.

The cards can be sent anonymously, an important factor in promoting their use, according to TaWanda Preston of the Mazzoni Center, Philadelphia's LGBT health center. Mazzoni has a partnership with Inspot.

"There's a lot of stigma around HIV," said Preston, "and sometimes people aren't able to tell their partners face to face."

The subject line of the e-mail recipients get reads almost like spam: "eCard from a concerned friend re: your health - via inSPOT." But it is actually a warning about a potential health problem accompanied by information on the STD they may have contracted and local clinics.

Despite the site's potential for misuse - even those who don't have an STD can send warnings - Lebrija maintained the site has a low number of cases sent maliciously. But at least one Penn student has received a card in jest.

"I had a friend in the past who used it as a prank, and I didn't think it was funny," said Wharton and Nursing sophomore Gerardo Melendez-Torres.

"I think you have to be careful with these kind of things, because people might take advantage and send their friends stuff as a joke," College junior Allyson Gordon warned.

For Gordon and Melendez-Torres, the impersonal nature of the site leaves something to be desired.

"I would prefer to be told face to face or on the phone, but if that doesn't work out I guess an e-mail is better than nothing," said Melendez-Torres.

Gordon agreed, "I would obviously be nervous . but I would also be a little relieved someone would take the time . to make sure I got tested."

But the most important thing, Gordon said, is "being respectful of yourself and others."

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