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THE SOCIAL MEDIA site Facebook has added new features to its suicide prevention tool, which will aim to increase the resources and support to those on the site who are at risk of suicide.
The new features include a prompt that is sent to those at risk encouraging them to talk to a friend, and offers support and resources to the person who flags a troubling post.
A list of the total suicide prevention features include:
The features were developed in conjunction with the suicide prevention charity Samaritans Ireland ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day this Saturday, to help make social media sites safer for people struggling to cope.
Deirdre Toner, executive director of Samaritans Ireland said that people use Facebook to ”communicate their feelings when life is tough and they’re feeling overwhelmed”.
She added:
Research shows that social media feeds can be effective indicators of what happens in real life, so those who threaten suicide online can often go on to make an attempt at taking their own life, therefore messages that cause concern should not be ignored.
Facebook and other social media sites have drawn criticism before for allowing bullying and hate speech on their site without repercussion. They have pages on their sites with aim to address both of these issues.
If you need to talk, contact
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