New Facebook Feature May Help Users Prevent Suicides
MENLO PARK (CBS SF) -- Facebook rolled out a new feature designed to help prevent suicides by allowing users to quickly alert someone if a friend appears to be thinking of harming themselves.
Users will be able to report to Facebook posts they believe may indicate a friend is thinking of suicide. Facebook will review the post and contact the poster if the social networking site believes they may be in distress.
Facebook teamed up with suicide prevention organizations including the University of Washington's Forefront organization to offer options for users to reach out to and receive support.
If Facebook decides it's necessary, users will see a message reading that, "a friend thinks you might be going through something difficult and asked us to look at your recent post."
The site then gives the user a prompt to call a friend, or seek help through the suicide prevention organizations.