Comments on: can radian6 be used to prevent suicides and murders? http://www.jonathannguyen.net/social-media/can-radian6-be-used-to-prevent-suicides-and-murders/ A discourse on intercourse Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:51:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Alison Michalk http://www.jonathannguyen.net/social-media/can-radian6-be-used-to-prevent-suicides-and-murders/comment-page-1/#comment-268 Alison Michalk Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:27:19 +0000 http://www.jonathannguyen.net/?p=251#comment-268 You're right - it is a tough call. I think the best course of action is to contact the member privately, and offer compassion whilst referring them to a professional. <br><br>Your suggestion is a great one (I just got hung up on the logistics before!). I imagine there are a vast number of organisations that deal specifically with these concerns who'd benefit from social media monitoring.<br><br> It might only be a matter of time until software is developed to tackle these issues specifically in the same way Crisp's Net Moderator deals with cyber-grooming and cyber-safety.<br><br>Great chatting with you Jonathon :) You're right – it is a tough call. I think the best course of action is to contact the member privately, and offer compassion whilst referring them to a professional.

Your suggestion is a great one (I just got hung up on the logistics before!). I imagine there are a vast number of organisations that deal specifically with these concerns who'd benefit from social media monitoring.

It might only be a matter of time until software is developed to tackle these issues specifically in the same way Crisp's Net Moderator deals with cyber-grooming and cyber-safety.

Great chatting with you Jonathon :)

]]> By: Jonathan Nguyen http://www.jonathannguyen.net/social-media/can-radian6-be-used-to-prevent-suicides-and-murders/comment-page-1/#comment-267 Jonathan Nguyen Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:52:29 +0000 http://www.jonathannguyen.net/?p=251#comment-267 Hi Alison<br>I suspect it's one of those areas where there will be no easy answer. I also think it's gong to be one of those areas where there will be no one rule. So for example, on a Forum it might not be appropriate to intervene, but what if it was a Facebook status update? Would one of your friends be totally justified in calling the police to your house? What about your blog?<br><br>It's a tough call, but it it's good that people like yourself are wanting to explore it. For it me it was an interesting concept to explore, but I'm not a mental health professional. It would be interesting to get that viewpoint as well.<br><br>Thanks for commenting! Hi Alison
I suspect it's one of those areas where there will be no easy answer. I also think it's gong to be one of those areas where there will be no one rule. So for example, on a Forum it might not be appropriate to intervene, but what if it was a Facebook status update? Would one of your friends be totally justified in calling the police to your house? What about your blog?

It's a tough call, but it it's good that people like yourself are wanting to explore it. For it me it was an interesting concept to explore, but I'm not a mental health professional. It would be interesting to get that viewpoint as well.

Thanks for commenting!

]]> By: Alison Michalk http://www.jonathannguyen.net/social-media/can-radian6-be-used-to-prevent-suicides-and-murders/comment-page-1/#comment-266 Alison Michalk Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:13:28 +0000 http://www.jonathannguyen.net/?p=251#comment-266 Hi Jonathon, I know it's an old post but I've just come across it and wanted to comment. I work with a range of high-risk online communities, and recently worked with a parenting community for two years. This presented community management challenges such as suicide, child at risk of harm, post-natal depression, relationship issues etc. <br><br>One of the difficulties in processing these issues is ascertaining who the person is IRL, and whether or not you are contravening privacy laws in doing so. Mandatory reporting legislation varies from state to state and in most cases online publishers don't fall under it (to the best of my knowledge).<br><br>The other issue is whether or not you break the trust of the community by doing so. I'm not suggesting members would be bothered by an attempt to help, but you may erode the sanctity of that space. For many people facing troubled times, a call for help on a forum might be the best action they can take. They will be listened to and responded to (by their peers and the site). If people stopped posting cries for help for fear of the police turning up, would the action of community custodians be counterproductive?<br><br>I don't have the answer but it's a topic I've been exploring lately in considering the value of anonymity on the web. I enjoyed your post, thank you! Hi Jonathon, I know it's an old post but I've just come across it and wanted to comment. I work with a range of high-risk online communities, and recently worked with a parenting community for two years. This presented community management challenges such as suicide, child at risk of harm, post-natal depression, relationship issues etc.

One of the difficulties in processing these issues is ascertaining who the person is IRL, and whether or not you are contravening privacy laws in doing so. Mandatory reporting legislation varies from state to state and in most cases online publishers don't fall under it (to the best of my knowledge).

The other issue is whether or not you break the trust of the community by doing so. I'm not suggesting members would be bothered by an attempt to help, but you may erode the sanctity of that space. For many people facing troubled times, a call for help on a forum might be the best action they can take. They will be listened to and responded to (by their peers and the site). If people stopped posting cries for help for fear of the police turning up, would the action of community custodians be counterproductive?

I don't have the answer but it's a topic I've been exploring lately in considering the value of anonymity on the web. I enjoyed your post, thank you!

]]> By: Jonathan Nguyen http://www.jonathannguyen.net/social-media/can-radian6-be-used-to-prevent-suicides-and-murders/comment-page-1/#comment-216 Jonathan Nguyen Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:33:42 +0000 http://www.jonathannguyen.net/?p=251#comment-216 Hi Sarah, Radian6 saw my post and made an offer to help. Let's have a chat about this offline. I'll shoot you through an email. Hi Sarah, Radian6 saw my post and made an offer to help. Let's have a chat about this offline. I'll shoot you through an email.

]]> By: Jonathan Nguyen http://www.jonathannguyen.net/social-media/can-radian6-be-used-to-prevent-suicides-and-murders/comment-page-1/#comment-180 Jonathan Nguyen Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:33:42 +0000 http://www.jonathannguyen.net/?p=251#comment-180 Hi Sarah, Radian6 saw my post and made an offer to help. Let's have a chat about this offline. I'll shoot you through an email. Hi Sarah, Radian6 saw my post and made an offer to help. Let's have a chat about this offline. I'll shoot you through an email.

]]> By: SarahMoran http://www.jonathannguyen.net/social-media/can-radian6-be-used-to-prevent-suicides-and-murders/comment-page-1/#comment-179 SarahMoran Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:59:22 +0000 http://www.jonathannguyen.net/?p=251#comment-179 This idea has merit and has crossed my mind a few times too. I think most organisations that currently look at suicide prevention lack the capacity to even understand this technology, let alone apply it. Would be scope to partner though, if radian6 could donate the technology to an organisation that could become capable if they had access to it.<br><br>I volunteer for <a href="http://Reachout.com" rel="nofollow">Reachout.com</a> and we have used technology to help young people, initially through the website but also with forums... I would also like to see targeted ads to at risk people - though I'm not familiar enough with keyword capabilities for targeting, one day I hope this would be possible with Facebook. If you right "trigger" words, an ad comes up to direct you to some help in an online environment.<br><br>It's all so new and non-profits are often starved of information when it comes to technology - but if you are keen to make this more than an idea I'd love to share thoughts... This idea has merit and has crossed my mind a few times too. I think most organisations that currently look at suicide prevention lack the capacity to even understand this technology, let alone apply it. Would be scope to partner though, if radian6 could donate the technology to an organisation that could become capable if they had access to it.

I volunteer for Reachout.com and we have used technology to help young people, initially through the website but also with forums… I would also like to see targeted ads to at risk people – though I'm not familiar enough with keyword capabilities for targeting, one day I hope this would be possible with Facebook. If you right “trigger” words, an ad comes up to direct you to some help in an online environment.

It's all so new and non-profits are often starved of information when it comes to technology – but if you are keen to make this more than an idea I'd love to share thoughts…

]]>