On Feb. 25, Facebook announced that they would be launching a suicide prevention tool over the course of the next several months. This tool will provide several different options for approaching a friend’s post that might strike a user as a cause for concern.
According to www.NYmag.com, Facebook will provide a few different options for users who come across a friend’s post they find concerning. Users will be able to message the person directly, reach out to another friend to rally a support group around that person, chat with a trained helper or call a suicide hotline (hotline operators are trained to deal with people who call on behalf of friends or loved ones). They can also ask Facebook to look at the post and determine whether the user appears to be in crisis.
After expressing your reason for concern, Facebook will then post pop-up links and videos to the user’s newsfeed relating to mental health and ways that user could possibly get help.
I recently had a friend post a status on Facebook confessing that life had begun to take a toll on them. Things had become too hard, and this person did not want to live anymore. This post was a cry for help and by the time it made its way to my newsfeed, an hour had passed by. Comments followed the post with things like, “Please don’t do this,” and “You have so much to live for.” By the time I read these, I understood that the post was not about taking a break from Facebook, but rather taking a break from life. This person had tried to commit suicide, but because they had posted this status, someone was able to get to them in time.
Facebook, undoubtedly, has become an outlet for people to express emotion and feelings. Users can update statuses and add moods to them. If you’re feeling sad there’s a status that simply states, “feeling sad.” It isn’t too hard to let the world know how we’re feeling anymore.
I think this new tool could save lives as well as bring attention to suicide prevention and suicide in general. I don’t think that suicide is necessarily a topic that people like to discuss; in fact, it is a very sensitive subject for most. But knowing the signs for someone who is suffering from depression or expressing suicidal thoughts, could unquestionably help save someone’s life.
The Internet has brought forth so many negatives and I think that Facebook’s position here is to use the Internet to help. Like all new features, it is bound to have a few glitches. I could see people being offended by several things here. I could see a potential problem with overusing the tool, or an unnecessary use of the tool, but I think that this new feature could be a great way to help educate and prevent suicide.
