Facebook Works to Stop Suicides From Cyberbullying
By: Stephanie Castillo
Updated: December 14, 2011
If you're considering suicide,
Facebook now stands ready to get you some help.
The gigantic social-networking site
said Tuesday that if any of its 800 million users type a post saying
they are contemplating suicide, the site will offer to connect them to
a crisis counselor through the site's chat system.
But the system requires human
intervention, in the form of a friend who clicks on a link next to a
troubling comment, the Associated Press reports
today. Facebook says it then will send an email to the people concerned,
encouraging them to call a crisis hotline or click through to a
confidential chat with a counselor.
Facebook has been trying to do more to
make its site more socially responsible. In March, the company
announced new tools to protect users from online
bullying, including a way
to report threats to Facebook, and to let a parent, teacher, or trusted
friend know.
Last year, the social-media giant
started partnering with gay rights organizations
to combat anti-gay cyberbullying.
But the anti-suicide effort is the
first that isn't intended to reduce malicious use of Facebook. Instead,
it's using Facebook's vast networks to try to identify people in the
midst of a mental-health crisis, and get them help.
"This is really problematic," says Pam
Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum
a nonprofit public interest research group. We all want to prevent
suicide, she says, "but I'm not sure this is the right way to do it."
(Copyright: NPR) read more
(Copyright: NPR) read more
