Facebook's New Tool Could Help You Save a Friend's Life

Among the many kinds of Facebook posts that fill up your news feed, you may notice some concern you. It's easy to scroll past a friend's alarming status, but Facebook's new tool will help users be more proactive about preventing suicide. In the same drop-down button that allows you to unfollow the user or report a post, an option to flag a post anonymously will now be available.

According to The New York Times, the 24/7 global community operations team will review all reported users to evaluate whether the person is at risk of self-harm. If a team member believes the user in question is in need of assistance, the reported person will be given options when logging in, including contacting a friend or hotline and getting tips.

Those who flagged the post will have several options as well such as directly messaging or calling the user or reaching out to a mutual friend to help. "Given that Facebook is the place you're connected to friends and family, it seemed like a natural fit," said Dr. Jennifer Guadagno, who is leading the project, to The New York Times.

About a third of all Facebook posts are negative in some form, reports The New York Times, making it important to recognize signs of distress before it's too late. Although we can imagine Facebook is receiving some backlash regarding privacy around this tool, we think this is a huge step that could potentially save many lives.