scholarly journals Can a social media intervention improve online communication about suicide? A feasibility study examining the acceptability and potential impact of the #chatsafe campaign

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253278
Author(s):  
Louise La Sala ◽  
Zoe Teh ◽  
Michelle Lamblin ◽  
Gowri Rajaram ◽  
Simon Rice ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Media Campaign ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Prevention Campaign ◽  
Willingness To Intervene ◽  
Potential Impact

There is a need for effective and youth-friendly approaches to suicide prevention, and social media presents a unique opportunity to reach young people. Although there is some evidence to support the delivery of population-wide suicide prevention campaigns, little is known about their capacity to change behaviour, particularly among young people and in the context of social media. Even less is known about the safety and feasibility of using social media for the purpose of suicide prevention. Based on the #chatsafe guidelines, this study examines the acceptability, safety and feasibility of a co-designed social media campaign. It also examines its impact on young people’s willingness to intervene against suicide and their perceived self-efficacy, confidence and safety when communicating on social media platforms about suicide. A sample of 189 young people aged 16–25 years completed three questionnaires across a 20-week period (4 weeks pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and at 4-week follow up). The intervention took the form of a 12-week social media campaign delivered to participants via direct message. Participants reported finding the intervention acceptable and they also reported improvements in their willingness to intervene against suicide, and their perceived self-efficacy, confidence and safety when communicating on social media about suicide. Findings from this study present a promising picture for the acceptability and potential impact of a universal suicide prevention campaign delivered through social media, and suggest that it can be safe to utilize social media for the purpose of suicide prevention.

scholarly journals Developing a Suicide Prevention Social Media Campaign With Young People (The #Chatsafe Project): Co-Design Approach

10.2196/17520 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. e17520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Thorn ◽  
Nicole TM Hill ◽  
Michelle Lamblin ◽  
Zoe Teh ◽  
Rikki Battersby-Coulter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Media Campaign ◽  
Youth Engagement ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Campaign Strategy ◽  
Attitudes Toward Suicide ◽  
The Web

Background Young people commonly use social media platforms to communicate about suicide. Although research indicates that this communication may be helpful, the potential for harm still exists. To facilitate safe communication about suicide on social media, we developed the #chatsafe guidelines, which we sought to implement via a national social media campaign in Australia. Population-wide suicide prevention campaigns have been shown to improve knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward suicide. However, suicide prevention campaigns will be ineffective if they do not reach and resonate with their target audience. Co-designing suicide prevention campaigns with young people can increase the engagement and usefulness of these youth interventions. Objective This study aimed to document key elements of the co-design process; to evaluate young people’s experiences of the co-design process; and to capture young people’s recommendations for the #chatsafe suicide prevention social media campaign. Methods In total, 11 co-design workshops were conducted, with a total of 134 young people aged between 17 and 25 years. The workshops employed commonly used co-design strategies; however, modifications were made to create a safe and comfortable environment, given the population and complexity and sensitivity of the subject matter. Young people’s experiences of the workshops were evaluated through a short survey at the end of each workshop. Recommendations for the campaign strategy were captured through a thematic analysis of the postworkshop discussions with facilitators. Results The majority of young people reported that the workshops were both safe (116/131, 88.5%) and enjoyable (126/131, 96.2%). They reported feeling better equipped to communicate safely about suicide on the web and feeling better able to identify and support others who may be at risk of suicide. Key recommendations for the campaign strategy were that young people wanted to see bite-sized sections of the guidelines come to life via shareable content such as short videos, animations, photographs, and images. They wanted to feel visible in campaign materials and wanted all materials to be fully inclusive and linked to resources and support services. Conclusions This is the first study internationally to co-design a suicide prevention social media campaign in partnership with young people. The study demonstrates that it is feasible to safely engage young people in co-designing a suicide prevention intervention and that this process produces recommendations, which can usefully inform suicide prevention campaigns aimed at youth. The fact that young people felt better able to safely communicate about suicide on the web as a result of participation in the study augurs well for youth engagement with the national campaign, which was rolled out across Australia. If effective, the campaign has the potential to better prepare many young people to communicate safely about suicide on the web.

scholarly journals Developing a Suicide Prevention Social Media Campaign With Young People (The #Chatsafe Project): Co-Design Approach (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Thorn ◽  
Nicole TM Hill ◽  
Michelle Lamblin ◽  
Zoe Teh ◽  
Rikki Battersby-Coulter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Media Campaign ◽  
Youth Engagement ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Campaign Strategy ◽  
Attitudes Toward Suicide ◽  
The Web

BACKGROUND Young people commonly use social media platforms to communicate about suicide. Although research indicates that this communication may be helpful, the potential for harm still exists. To facilitate safe communication about suicide on social media, we developed the #chatsafe guidelines, which we sought to implement via a national social media campaign in Australia. Population-wide suicide prevention campaigns have been shown to improve knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward suicide. However, suicide prevention campaigns will be ineffective if they do not reach and resonate with their target audience. Co-designing suicide prevention campaigns with young people can increase the engagement and usefulness of these youth interventions. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to document key elements of the co-design process; to evaluate young people’s experiences of the co-design process; and to capture young people’s recommendations for the #chatsafe suicide prevention social media campaign. METHODS In total, 11 co-design workshops were conducted, with a total of 134 young people aged between 17 and 25 years. The workshops employed commonly used co-design strategies; however, modifications were made to create a safe and comfortable environment, given the population and complexity and sensitivity of the subject matter. Young people’s experiences of the workshops were evaluated through a short survey at the end of each workshop. Recommendations for the campaign strategy were captured through a thematic analysis of the postworkshop discussions with facilitators. RESULTS The majority of young people reported that the workshops were both safe (116/131, 88.5%) and enjoyable (126/131, 96.2%). They reported feeling better equipped to communicate safely about suicide on the web and feeling better able to identify and support others who may be at risk of suicide. Key recommendations for the campaign strategy were that young people wanted to see bite-sized sections of the guidelines come to life via shareable content such as short videos, animations, photographs, and images. They wanted to feel visible in campaign materials and wanted all materials to be fully inclusive and linked to resources and support services. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study internationally to co-design a suicide prevention social media campaign in partnership with young people. The study demonstrates that it is feasible to safely engage young people in co-designing a suicide prevention intervention and that this process produces recommendations, which can usefully inform suicide prevention campaigns aimed at youth. The fact that young people felt better able to safely communicate about suicide on the web as a result of participation in the study augurs well for youth engagement with the national campaign, which was rolled out across Australia. If effective, the campaign has the potential to better prepare many young people to communicate safely about suicide on the web.

scholarly journals Body dysmorphic disorder in children and young people

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-164
Author(s):  
Chloe Watson ◽  
Sasha Ban
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Young People ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Adolescent Development ◽  
Body Dysmorphic Disorder ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Surgical Interventions ◽  
Positive Body Image

The incidence of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) in young people is increasing. Causes of BDD are related to the prevalence of social media and adolescent development, especially the role that brain neuroplasticity has on influencing perception. There are long-term impacts of BDD, including depression and suicide. Prevention and promotion of positive body image are part of the nurse's role; treatment can prevent unnecessary aesthetic surgical interventions.

‘#YouCanTalk’: A multimodal discourse analysis of suicide prevention and peer support in the Australian BeyondBlue platform

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Grazia Sindoni
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Media Campaign ◽  
Multimodal Discourse Analysis ◽  
Multimodal Discourse ◽  
Functional Perspective

Research has shown that suicide rate in Australia is on the rise and that most people who die by suicide are not in contact with mental health services. They most likely communicate their suicidal thoughts to family members or close friends, whose responses may sound unhelpful and/or dismissive, thus reinforcing suicidal ideation. This national emergency has been tackled via a social media campaign, #YouCan Talk, launched by a government-supported digital platform, BeyondBlue. This article adopts a multimodal discourse analysis approach to investigate how peer support is encouraged and articulated in the context of mental health discourse for suicide prevention. The two case studies selected for analysis from the BeyondBlue platform are (1) the #YouCanTalk social media campaign, designed to teach carers to identify severe depression and effectively respond to suicide warning signs and (2) a sample of posts from a thread for peer support in a monitored online forum devoted to help carers who seek peer advice. Unlike previous research, the article focuses on how pronouns and verbs index interpersonal relations in a systemic-functional perspective as well as other multimodal resources, such as visuals, layout and hyperlinking, to understand how identities are entextualised by both professional health providers and peer carers in digital platforms that address mental health issues.

White Armband Day: From global social media campaign to transnational commemoration day

2021 ◽  
pp. 175069802199599
Author(s):  
Johanna Paul
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Young People ◽  
Media Campaign ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
Virtual Spaces ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Displacement Based

This article is concerned with White Armband Day ( Dan Bijelih Traka), marked on 31 May in memory of the genocidal campaign against Prijedor’s non-Serb population during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992–95). What started spontaneously in 2012 as a global social media campaign against genocide denial has become a commemoration day marked in Prijedor, the post-Yugoslav region, across the world and in virtual spaces. Its widespread recognition and impact on alternative memory discourses rendered it one of the most successful civil society initiatives engaging in dealing with the past in the region. Drawing on a transnational mobilisation perspective, the article explores how the initiative emerged and what factors contributed to White Armband Day’s establishment as a transnational commemoration day. Findings from multi-sited research indicate that beyond rapid online mobilisation, two prerequisites have been key to its success: displacement-based (trans)local networks of Prijedorčani and its ability to mobilise young people across ethnic divisions.

scholarly journals Developing Social Media-Based Suicide Prevention Messages in Partnership With Young People: Exploratory Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. e40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Robinson ◽  
Eleanor Bailey ◽  
Sarah Hetrick ◽  
Steve Paix ◽  
Matt O'Donnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Phase 2 ◽  
School Students ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Prevention Messages ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

Background Social media is increasingly being used by young people for health-related issues, including communicating about suicide. Due to the concerns about causing distress or inducing suicidal thoughts or behaviors, to date young people neither have been engaged in the development of social media–based suicide prevention interventions nor have interventions focused on educating young people about safe ways to communicate about suicide online. Given the potential that social media holds to deliver messages to vast numbers of people across space and time and the fact that young people often prefer to seek help from their friends and peers, safely educating and engaging young people to develop suicide prevention messages that can be delivered via social media is an obvious next step. Objectives The objectives of this study were to (1) provide education to a small number of secondary school students about safe ways to communicate about suicide via social media; (2) engage the same young people in the development of a suite of social media–based suicide prevention multimedia messages; (3) assess the impact of this on participants; and (4) assess the acceptability and safety of the messages developed. Methods This study involved two phases. In phase 1, 20 participants recruited from two schools took part in an 8- to 10-week program during which they were provided with psychoeducation about mental health and suicide, including how to talk safely about suicide online, and they were then supported to design and develop their own media messages. These participants completed an evaluation questionnaire at the conclusion of the program. In phase 2, a larger group of participants (n=69), recruited via an opt-in process, viewed the media messages and completed a short questionnaire about each one. Results Participants in phase 1 enjoyed the program and reported that they learned new skills, such as how to talk safely about suicide online, and felt more able to provide emotional support to others (16/20, 80%). No participants reported that the program made them feel suicidal. Participants in phase 2 generally rated the media messages as safe and acceptable, although some messages were rated more highly than others. Conclusions This study suggests that young people can be safely engaged in developing suicide prevention messages, which can be disseminated via social media. Engaging young people in this process may improve the traction that such campaigns will have with other young people. The study also suggests that educating young people regarding how to talk safely about suicide online has multiple benefits and is not associated with distress. Overall, these findings pave the way for new approaches to prevent suicide among young people.

Young People's Reasons for Feeling Suicidal

Crisis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 400-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aamina Ali ◽  
Kerry Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Youth Suicide ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Data Limitations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
The Moment

Abstract. Background: While considerable attention has been given to explanations for youth suicide, less is known about the reasons that young people themselves give for suicidality. Research on online communications gives an opportunity to investigate the real-time reasons young people give for feeling suicidal. Aims: This study aimed to identify the reasons that young people provide for feeling suicidal in posts published on a suicide prevention forum, hosted on the social media platform Tumblr. Method: We filtered 2 months' worth of posts to identify those that related specifically to suicide. In total, 210 posts were thematically analyzed to identify the reasons given for suicidality and the meanings associated with these. Results: Six main reasons for suicidality were identified in the analysis: feeling lonely and socially disconnected, experiencing identity stigma, failing to meet expectations, being helpless, feeling worthless, and experiences of mental ill-health. Limitations: There are advantages as well as limitations associated with relying on Internet-based data. Limitations include the inability to establish participant demographics and the lack of context for posts. Conclusion: Suicide prevention efforts should target the reasons that young people give for feeling suicidal in the moment of crisis in order to engage this population more effectively.

scholarly journals Social Media As a Tool for Youth Involvement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Timokhovich ◽  
Stepan Filenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Political Involvement ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Data Survey ◽  
Degree Of Confidence ◽  
The Impact

This article contains the results of the empirical study devoted to the problem of Russian youth political involvement and the influence of social media on the young people’s political activities. The study was in years 2018–2019. The study used quantitative method for collecting primary data (survey). The sample of the survey was 600 respondents. The respondents were young people studying at colleges and universities in Russian central region (18 districts). The study examines the political involvement of youth and the impact of social media on the young people political involvement. The survey has revealed the specifics of young people using different information channels to obtain news, thematic features of the information consumed, the degree of confidence in information, the attitude of young people towards politics, characteristics of political behavior, specifics of decision-making in crisis situations and patriotic sentiment among young people. The study has fixed the active use of online communication channels by young people, and their contradictory opinions on this question. They actively consume political information, but believe that they are not interested in politics; they are not involved and do not want to get involved in political activities, but they are ready to participate in protest movements; they have patriotic sentiments, but are not ready to contribute to the solving of political problems in the country. Keywords: youth, social media, information, interest, political involvement

scholarly journals Suicide Exposure in a Polymediated Age

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Bell ◽  
Christopher Westoby
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Product And Process

With growing evidence that media plays a vital role in shaping public understanding of suicidality and influencing behaviours, media portrayals of suicidality have for some time been the focus of suicide prevention efforts. Traditional media has changed, and now exists alongside and within an instantaneous, interactive sharing of information created and controlled by anyone; the way most people use it today incorporates a wide variety of online communication media. Polymedia describes media communication as both a product and process, where anyone can contribute and act as producers, consumers, audiences, and critics. In a “Polymediated age,” media exposure becomes much more complex. To understand how media exposure to suicide influences and impacts on others, it is important to take into account the communicative ecology of media technologies and the different interactions we can have with them. We researched the effects of this type of exposure by conducting in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of individuals who have lived experience and/or knowledge of suicide exposure via polymediated communication in the aftermath of a suicide. Using thematic analysis, our data demonstrates how exposure to suicide has become more complex as a result of new communicative media technology: it can be both a gift and a curse, difficult to distinguish, predict or control. Polymedia has the power to determine new forms of narrative and new forms of behaviour that on the one hand can provide support and prevention efforts, while on the other hand can promote conflict and cast an adverse influence on suicidal behaviour. Polymedia provides novel affordances for very intimate collective exposure to suicide. Our findings shed important new light on how the interplay between news media and social media has transformed our relationship with the information to which we’re exposed. We highlight important suggestions for those working in suicide prevention to develop (1) media strategies that recognise the multiple ways in which users are exposed and impacted, and (2) mechanisms for a strategic amplification and moderation of specific types of content. Media organisations and users of social media alike can contribute to maximising the beneficial capacity of polymediated exposure to suicide.

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