Suicide prevention on social media is a big step forward

Facebook just recently implemented a new suicide prevention plan that aims to identify people who may be feeling suicidal. Friends can report whether someone has written a concerning post, and that will generate an automated response to direct that person to available options for help. The new tool has great potential to save lives, and demonstrates that social media platforms can make a difference in the fight against cyberbullying.

In the Digital Age, the increasing presence and power of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and Ask.fm, is a phenomenon that millennials in particular have embraced. Yet, the usage of social media is not without its risks. Sites such as Ask.fm have been said to facilitate online bullying, having been linked to at least nine suicides teenagers between 2012 and 2013.

The Internet provides a screen of anonymity for bullies and this encourages them to push their behaviour to extremes. Children or teenagers who cyberbully are often bullies in real life too. Social media platforms just provide another means for bullies to attack their victim. Indeed, Mark Terebin, one of the founders of Ask.fm, argued that social media platforms are “just a tool which helps people to communicate with each other, same as any other social network, same as phone, same as piece of paper and pen.” He adds that it is up to individuals to take responsibility for their actions because people make their own decisions when it comes to their behaviour online. Social media platforms are merely neutral spaces that can be corrupted and used for ill such as cyberbullying, or be a tool for change and used for good, such as bringing awareness to ALS.

Social media platforms have already made progress towards increasing safety on the web. Facebook, as mentioned above, has implemented its suicide prevention plan and Ask.fm has made its ‘Report’ button larger to make it easier to report online abuse and hired more staff to more vigorously moderate comments. Mark Terebin, one of the founders of Ask.fm, argues that it is “just a tool which helps people to communicate with each other, same as any other social network, same as phone, same as piece of paper and pen.” He adds that it is up to individuals to take responsibility for their actions.

But cyberbullying and suicides linked to social media won’t end if only one party takes responsibility for the problem. Cyberbullying is a societal problem that won’t be going away in the near future. At the very least, we can all try to minimise the harm from all sides — at an individual, school and company-wide level — to take a little time and effort and stop those cyberbullies.