Facebook Teams With National Suicide Prevention Lifeline To Keep Users Safe

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Facebook is making it easier for people who express suicidal thoughts on the social networking site to get help.

A program launching Tuesday enables users to instantly connect with a crisis counselor from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline through Facebook's "chat" messaging system.

If a friend spots a suicidal thought on someone's page, he can report it to Facebook by clicking a link next to the comment. Facebook then sends an email to the person who posted the comment encouraging that user to call the hotline or click a link for a confidential chat.

The service is Facebook's latest move aimed at improving safety on its site.

Facebook says the goal is to get a person in distress help as quickly as possible.

Comments

[Katie Reads HuffPo]

03:22 PM on 12/14/2011

So many students live their lives online that it makes sense for them to be able to get help for suicide and mental health issues online. Another great organization that connects students with anonymous peer support online is Student Spill. Students vent at spillnow.com and then get a support from a peer within a day or two. Its a great way place for students who struggle but don't want to go to a counselor.

[gurke75]

09:54 AM on 12/14/2011

Please tell me this is a joke.

I can't help but feel sick because the only reasons Facebook is doing this is to avoid lawsuits and to put out recent cyberbully fires. And it's not Facebook that sickens me, but the fact that there are people who would sue Facebook because it's Facebook's "fault."

What happened to personal responsibility?

While I think Facebook's effort is good along the lines of teaching kids to "tell a teacher; tell an adult; tell a friend," those methods will not be tracked, as I'm sure Facebook's will.

[Desolati0n]

07:52 AM on 12/14/2011

Not many teens read email so I'm not sure how effective it will be with the email idea, as for the other thing the confidential chat on the website, I guess that's a good feature, I just don't know how many people will want to use it, I don't know how I feel about this, I have mixed feelings.

[Dalton Perry]

12:31 AM on 12/14/2011

This leaves me with mixed feelings. I love the idea of a way to help people at risk of suicide as soon as possible, but way you go about it has to be very carefully thought out. If this plan backfires, the outcome would be horrifying. It is good they are partnering with a group that has a lot of experience, but this delivery method and medium is pretty different. I'm optimistic about this, hopefully they can find a successful way to implement this.

[Bor Zoi]

09:22 PM on 12/13/2011

With the proliferation of trend-tracking, profile identification and anticipatory technology, I wonder if Facebook may start to identify and provide "Facebook advantageous support" to people on their site who Facebook ...

(1) identifies as a high risk "suicidal profile" by tracking type and frequency of activity, inclusive of word selection and analysis of postings

(2) cross-checks against revenue generating activity such as Farmville or other instruments that provide a steady revenue stream to Facebook to identify potential income loss associated with the death of the individual

(3) would then create and engage fake, "semi-intelligent" profiles to interact with these high-revenue-generating individuals within the revenue generating environs in order to sustain "human-type contact" with these suicide risks in order to sustain the revenue stream

(4) ignore those who express suicidal patterns who do not generate revenue for Facebook - and whom the company does not deem necessary to save from an economic benefit analysis (i.e., intervention would not be "Facebook advantageous")

[Lauren Kottwitz]

08:47 PM on 12/13/2011

Honestly, I think that's a great idea. How it will work in the moment is of course a concern, but at least there'll be that one extra option available. And at least it comes from a place of wanting to be responsible/helpful. It's kind of impressive, actually, considering how little time FB has spent listening to what their users want.

[metalsmithgirl71]

05:26 PM on 12/13/2011

give me a break.

[bestmugshots]

04:19 PM on 12/13/2011

A suicide button is ok but "dislike" is still controversial LOL

[lofttypeofaview]

03:06 PM on 12/13/2011

The button should allow me to notify not just Facebook but also their local police!

[Dalton Perry]

12:34 AM on 12/14/2011

Agreed, but how you would screen serious reports from prank reports would be hard. Not impossible though.

[lofttypeofaview]

02:05 AM on 12/14/2011

The police once notified, would have immediate access to the potential suicidal person's Facebook page and then could make the appropriate decision; based upon the comments.

[pab08]

11:31 AM on 12/13/2011

Here is a better idea. How about if a tennager thinks his/her FRIEND is possibly going to commit suicide, then that FRIEND might want to call the PARENTS - not Mark Zuckerberg.

Bad parents breed bullys.
Parental knowledge and involvement stops children from killing themselves.
Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook run a businiess. It is the PARENTS who are 100% responsible for keeping their children safe and healthy.
Stop outsourcing and ignoring your parental responsibilities and I bet teen suicides decrease.

[Dalton Perry]

12:42 AM on 12/14/2011

As sad as it is, it could possibly be the parents that are causing the suicidal feelings. I wouldn't look at it as an outsourcing of parenting, but more as just another source of help for those that need it. When I was in highschool I had multiple classmates I personally knew that committed suicide. The parents were usually caught completely off-guard. It wasn't that they were bad parents, inattentive, or uncaring. Sometimes people just don't show signs. They bottle their feelings up inside and that is what can lead to suicide. It is such a complicated issue and it would be nice if there were one right answer that fixed it all, but sadly each case can be unique.

[sf bee]

01:23 PM on 12/14/2011

If a person is truly suicidal, it can be better to talk to a stranger about it than a parent or friend, in my opinion. People at suicide hotlines are trained on what to say and what not to say, where someone close to the person may just have an emotional reaction, say the wrong thing, or not take the person seriously. The chat wouldn't be with a facebook employee, it would connect the person to a suicide hotline.

[Chris Kuhn]

11:29 AM on 12/13/2011

Looks like Facebook pays attention to Change.org - http://www.change.org/petitions/red-alert-system-for-suicide-prevention

Thank you for taking this much needed step.

[Yorksgal]

11:15 AM on 12/13/2011

I hate FB - it intrudes on everything and spies on you even when you are not logged into it.

As for this"app" - nice thought, but how telling people to turn off FB and go and talk to their friends and colleagues.

[Dalton Perry]

12:44 AM on 12/14/2011

Not everyone has friends and colleagues to talk to. The ones that don't have that option are the ones that will benefit from this the most.

[Yorksgal]

10:44 AM on 12/14/2011

But how many FB "friends" will these people have and will they take notice. I hope I am wrong and you are right.

[edenooch]

10:30 AM on 12/13/2011

to not die. click here!

[Bishop Coxcomb]

10:29 AM on 12/13/2011

Is our society in such a bad place that when a friend infers a suicidal thought that you have to report them to a corporation instead of speaking with them directly? I love our detached world.

[Renan Fagalde]

11:18 AM on 12/13/2011

Actually, no. The friends probably try to pull the suicidal one first, but they often fail through no fault of their own. That's when trained people (not corporations) have to come in. And if you're able to nudge a suicidal friend in that direction, of getting professional help, without taking your own support, you're being a true friend. It's a win-win, really.

Now they just have to be careful not to be flooded. Emos are still out there, and internet white-knights might go trigger-happy flagging them.

[Tracy Nassan Whiteside]

02:43 PM on 12/13/2011

Whatever it takes to save a life.