Facebook ha da poco avviato una nuova iniziativa per la prevenzione dei suicidi, per adesso attiva solamente negli Stati Uniti e poi più avanti, nel caso si dimostrasse efficace, da estendere gradualmente agli altri paesi.
Il funzionamento è semplice: se un utente vede nel suo feed di notizie un aggiornamento di stato particolarmente preoccupante, potrà segnalarlo a Facebook in modo che il servizio di prevenzione possa valutarlo e decidere se contattare l’autore del post.
In caso di intervento, l’autore del post vedrebbe comparire un messaggio di questo tipo:
[blockquote style=”1″]Ciao, un tuo amico pensa che tu stia attraversando un momento difficile e ci ha chiesto di dare un’occhiata al tuo recente aggiornamento di stato[/blockquote]
Nel caso l’utente scelga di proseguire nell’interazione si propongono 2 azioni:
[blockquote style=”1″]Cosa vuoi fare? Sei importante per noi, per questo vogliamo offrirti aiuto se ne hai bisogno. Non sei solo – Contattiamo molte persone ogni mese per questo motivo. Cosa vuoi fare? [/blockquote]
Il comunicato stampa di Facebook riguardo al progetto di prevenzione dei suicidi:
[blockquote style=”1″]Keeping you safe is our most important responsibility on Facebook. Today, at our fifth Compassion Research Day, we announced updated tools that provide more resources, advice and support to people who may be struggling with suicidal thoughts and their concerned friends and family members. We worked with mental health organizations Forefront, Now Matters Now, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Save.org and others on these updates, in addition to consulting with people who had lived experience with self-injury or suicide. One of the first things these organizations discussed with us was how much connecting with people who care can help those in distress. If someone on Facebook sees a direct threat of suicide, we ask that they contact their local emergency services immediately. We also ask them to report any troubling content to us. We have teams working around the world, 24/7, who review any report that comes in. They prioritize the most serious reports, like self-injury, and send help and resources to those in distress. For those who may need help we have significantly expanded the support and resources that are available to them the next time they log on to Facebook after we review a report of something they’ve posted. Besides encouraging them to connect with a mental health expert at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, we now also give them the option of reaching out to a friend, and provide tips and advice on how they can work through these feelings. All of these resources were created in conjunction with our clinical and academic partners. We’re also providing new resources and support to the person who flagged the troubling post, including options for them to call or message their distressed friend letting them know they care, or reaching out to another friend or a trained professional at a suicide hotline for support. These updates will roll out to everyone who uses Facebook in the U.S. over the next couple of months. We’re also working to improve our tools for those outside the U.S.[/blockquote]
(Facebook Safety Blog post, 25 Febbraio 2015)
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