Facebook has decided to partner up with the national suicide prevention lifeline and other relevant organizations in order to be able to provide people with new options if they see that a friend of theirs is posting anything that hinting to the possibility that they want to commit suicide.
This option id going to allow you to use a special arrow that will make it possible for you to report the post, but what this does is give you options to either contact the person making the post, or have someone else they care about and trust contact them. You could also contact the suicide helpline at the University of Washington.
Once any of those actions have been taken, Facebook will take a look at the post and there will be a message posted by Facebook that will contain the following:
“Hi___ a friend thinks you might be going through something difficult and asked us to look at your recent post. “
This is an implementation that might not be welcome by some people who do not like to be disturbed on their Facebook, but when someone posts a public message that hints to any kind of problem, this is a clear indication that they need help.
If you have a friend that is posting this kind of thing online, you need to make sure that you are careful not to let it pass and it you feel like you are being intrusive, just remember that they posted this on social media and they are making it public, so this can be considered a cry for help.
This is going to be a very welcome addition because a large number of people need help when they are going through a bad time and that is more than enough of a reason to help them out. This system is not available to all users as of yet, but it will be available to most people in the US within a few months and several states already have them.
Rob Doyle, from Facebook product managed mentioned that “We have teams working around the world, 24/7, who review any report that comes in. They prioritize the most serious reports, like self-injury, and send help and resources to those in distress.”
The good news is that people are being given the chance to make a much better decision in regards to the kind of options they will have if they see someone acting in a way that seems strange. The person suffering from depression is also going to be able to look for help from the suicide hotlines directly and this is an excellent way to get things done.
This is part of a revolution that is getting started in the platform that allows for the best possible results. Facebook has the large number of users and this means that people are more likely to get reportedly friends and family that care about them. Hopefully this is going to encourage people to move forward and take action.
Sharon Callix
Award winning Social Media Expert
International Speaker
Twitter:SC707Tweets
www.makingmoneyusingsocialmedia.com
