Image from Facebook - Facebook will allow users to flag posts of their friends who may be contemplating suicide
- There will also be available options such as contacting lifeline units and providing tips to handle the situation
- Facebook does this as part of raising awareness in order to curb the alarming rate of suicide around the world
Facebook is set to extend its anti-suicide feature by allowing users themselves to flag posts of friends who may be at the verge of committing suicide.
If you are worried that your friend might harm himself based on his posts on Facebook, you will soon be capable of flagging that post through a drop-down menu.
Facebook also has several lifeline options for users who wish to help out their friends. These include the contact information of groups advocating the prevention of suicide attempts or provide tips on how to manage the situation.
“As of today, the resources we send to the person who posted something concerning will include an expanded set of options. People can now choose to reach out to a friend, contact a helpline, or see tips,” – Facebook said in a statement last Wednesday, June 15.
TechCrunch also said in a story that Facebook’s global community operation team will be reviewing the reported post and possibly “reach out to this person with information that might be helpful to them.”
Initially available in select parts of the United States, the social media giant also announced that this suit will be available in different languages.
Antigone Davis, head of Facebook’s safety unit, said that this feature was crafted in “collaboration with mental health organizations and with input from people who have personal experience with self-injury and suicide.”
These organizations include the Forefront, Lifeline and Save.org. This hopefully aims to raise awareness and curb the alarming rates of suicide globally.
“In the U.S., suicide rates are at their highest in three decades, particularly among men of all ages and women aged 45 to 64,” TechCrunch noted in its story.
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