The social media platform is launching suicide prevention tools that aim to build awareness and help users that might be having personal problems make the right decision. Instagram follows the footsteps of its parent company, Facebook, which recently launched the same important feature.
Instagram Is A Perfect Place For Raising Awareness
In a report from Seventeen, Instagram's Anti-suicide tools are created to make the photo-centric social media hub a safer place and eventually save some lives along the way. Instagram has been one of the top social media platforms with most users, which means that these tools would be directed to a wider audience that needs attention.
How The Suicide Prevention Tools Work
When a user sees a post on Instagram that seems to show the author as being at risk of committing suicide, he or she can anonymously report it and Instagram would then send a message of concern that reads, "Someone saw one of your posts and thinks you might be going through a difficult time. If you need support, we'd like to help." The anti-suicide tools would then suggest various channels of assistance to the person, as reported by Digital Trends.
It also can work the other way around with the user posting a message or a hashtag that could be interpreted as a sign of suicidal tendencies. In this case, the prevention tools will be triggered and provide the same assistance.
The Anti-Suicide Tools Timely Launch
According to the CDC, suicide incidents in the U.S. have risen by 24 percent from 1999 to 2004. It also noted the issue as an important health problem that is brought by psychological, biological and more notably, societal factors. In an interview with Seventeen, Instagram's Chief Operations Officer Marne Levine said, "These tools are designed to let you know that you are surrounded by a community that cares about you, at a moment when you might most need that reminder," exhibiting Instagram's care about its users welfare and promoting an anti-suicide stance by using the famous social media's broader reach in audience.
