Due to necessary scheduled maintenance, the JMIR Publications website will be unavailable from Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Who will be affected?
Readers: No access to all 28 journals. We recommend accessing our articles via PubMed Central
Authors: No access to the submission form or your user account.
Reviewers: No access to your user account. Please download manuscripts you are reviewing for offline reading before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
Editors: No access to your user account to assign reviewers or make decisions.
Copyeditors: No access to user account. Please download manuscripts you are copyediting before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
La Sala L, Sabo A, Michail M, Thorn P, Lamblin M, Brown V, Robinson J
Online Safety When Considering Self-Harm and Suicide-Related Content: Qualitative Focus Group Study With Young People, Policy Makers, and Social Media Industry Professionals
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Online safety when considering self-harm and suicide-related content: Perspectives of young people, policymakers, and social media companies
Louise La Sala;
Amanda Sabo;
Maria Michail;
Pinar Thorn;
Michelle Lamblin;
Vivienne Brown;
Jo Robinson
ABSTRACT
Background:
Young people are disproportionately impacted by self-harm and suicide, and concerns exist regarding the role of social media and exposure to unsafe content. Governments and social media companies have taken various approaches to address online safety for young people when it comes to self-harm and suicide, however, little is known about whether key stakeholders believe current approaches are fit-for-purpose.
Objective:
The present study aimed to explore the perceived challenges and views regarding young people communicating on social media about self-harm and suicide, as well as what more social media companies and governments could be doing to keep young people safe online.
Methods:
This qualitative study involved six focus groups with Australian young people aged 12-25 years (n = 7), Australian policymakers (n = 14), and professionals from international social media companies (n = 7). Framework analysis was used to summarize and chart the data for each stakeholder group.
Results:
Three primary themes and six sub-themes are presented and speak to the challenges and concerns for young people communicating online about self-harm and suicide, the roles and responsibilities for online safety and suicide prevention, and the use of social media safety features and policies.
Conclusions:
Findings highlight the importance of cross-industry collaborations and consideration of social media in future suicide prevention solutions intended to support young people.
Citation
Please cite as:
La Sala L, Sabo A, Michail M, Thorn P, Lamblin M, Brown V, Robinson J
Online Safety When Considering Self-Harm and Suicide-Related Content: Qualitative Focus Group Study With Young People, Policy Makers, and Social Media Industry Professionals