You most likely haven’t thought of earning a badge since your girl scout or boy scout days.

Unless of course, you use foursquare-a service where you earn points and badges by sharing your location with friends.

This week MTV and Foursquare announced they will be introducing a badge that will encourage people to check-in when they get tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

This new partnership builds upon the long running campaign, GYT- Get Yourself Tested, which is a collaborative effort by MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

What is GYT? GYT is about creating a youthful, empowering social movement around getting tested for STDs.  GYT presents testing as an act of pride, not shame- promoting open communication about STDs and encouraging your people to ask to be tested.

The GYT badge, why and how do you get it:
First the why: 1) you’re a social networking star with as many friends, followers, fans, etc as Robert Patterson,  2) you’re a reproductive rights advocate who thinks, “Of course, everyone should get tested, duh!!!” and 3) you want to win a trip for two to NYC to watch a taping of MTV’s “10 on top.”

Ok, now for the how: 1)sign up for foursquare on your smartphone. (doesn’t work without a smartphone, maybe that should be number 1,)  2) follow MTV on foursquare,  3) head to a local testing center and then check in on foursquare (you can text your zipcode to GYTNOW to get the location of the nearest testing center.)

how do you feel about foursquare in general and particularly around STD testing?  Check out Digits blog on the subject.  I’m thinking this pushes the envelope.

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