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.

Young people may be particularly vulnerable to the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and may also be more likely to use social media at this time. This study aimed to explore young people’s mental health and social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic and examined their use of social media to seek and provide support for suicidal thoughts and self-harm during this period. Young people aged 16–25 (n = 371, M = 21.1) from the general population in Australia completed an anonymous, cross-sectional online survey advertised on social media from June to October 2020. Participants reported high levels of psychological distress, with over 40% reporting severe levels of anxiety and depression, and those with a mental health diagnosis were more likely to perceive the pandemic to have had a negative impact on their mental health. Gender-diverse participants appeared the most negatively impacted. Social media use was high, with 96% reporting use at least once a day, and two-thirds reporting an increase in social media use since the start of the pandemic. One-third had used social media to seek support for suicidal thoughts or self-harm, and half had used it to support another person. This study adds to a growing literature suggesting social media can provide an opportunity to support young people experiencing psychological distress and suicide risk. Uniquely, this study points to the utility of using social media for this purpose during high-risk periods such as pandemics, where access to face-to-face support may be limited. To promote the quality and safety of support provided on social media, resources for help-seekers and help-givers should be developed and disseminated. Social media companies must consider the vulnerability of some users during pandemics and do what they can to promote wellbeing and safety.

Background: High rates of social media use and mental ill-health among young people have drawn significant public, policy, and research concern. Rapid technological advancements and changes in platform design have outpaced our understanding of the health effects of social media and hampered timely evidence-based regulatory responses. While a proliferation of recommendations to social media companies and governments has been published, a comprehensive summary of recommendations for protecting young people’s mental health and digital safety does not yet exist. Objective: This scoping review synthesized published recommendations for social media companies and governments in relation to young people’s (aged 12-25 years) mental health. A qualitative approach was used to undertake inductive content analysis, where recommendations were grouped under conceptually similar themes. Methods: We searched academic (PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO) and nonacademic (Overton and Google) databases for relevant documents. Eligible documents provided recommendations to regulators and social media companies that pertained to social media, young people, and mental health. This review excluded recommendations for young people, caregivers, educators, or clinicians surrounding strategies for managing individual social media use; instead, the recommendations emphasized the regulation or design of social media products and practices of social media companies. Peer-reviewed and gray literature from selected Western contexts (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States) were relevant for inclusion. Documents were published between January 2020 and September 2024. Results: Of the identified 4980 unique reports, 120 (2.41%) progressed to full-text screening, and 70 (1.41%) met the inclusion criteria. Five interrelated themes were identified: (1) legislating and overseeing accountability, (2) transparency, (3) collaboration, (4) safety by design, and (5) restricting young people’s access to social media. Conclusions: This review emphasizes the need for multipronged approaches to address the rapidly increasing presence and reach of social media platforms in the lives of young people. These recommendations provide practical and tangible paths forward for governments and industry, backed by expert organizations in youth mental health and technology regulation at a time when expert-informed guidance is sorely needed. Rigorous evaluation of the proposed recommendations is needed while continuing to build on the emerging peer-reviewed evidence base that should form the foundation of policy and regulatory changes.

Background: Young people are more likely to be affected by suicide contagion, and there are concerns about the role social media plays in the development and maintenance of suicide clusters or in facilitating imitative suicidal behavior. However, social media also presents an opportunity to provide real-time and age-appropriate suicide prevention information, which could be an important component of suicide postvention activities. Objective: This study aimed to test an intervention designed to equip young people to communicate safely online about suicide (#chatsafe) with a sample of young people who had recently been exposed to a suicide or suicide attempt, with a view to determining the role social media can play as part of a postvention response. Methods: A sample of 266 young people from Australia, aged 16 to 25 years, were recruited to participate in the study. They were eligible if they had been exposed to a suicide or knew of a suicide attempt in the past 2 years. All participants received the #chatsafe intervention, which comprised 6 pieces of social media content that were sent to them weekly via direct message through Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat. Participants were assessed on a range of outcome measures (social media use, willingness to intervene against suicide, internet self-efficacy, confidence, and safety when communicating about suicide on social media platforms) at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at 4-week follow-up. Results: After the 6-week #chatsafe intervention, participants reported substantial improvements in their willingness to intervene against suicide online, their internet self-efficacy, and their perceived confidence and safety when communicating about suicide online. Overall, the participants reported that it was appropriate to receive the #chatsafe intervention via social media, and no iatrogenic effects were recorded. Conclusions: The findings suggest that it is safe and acceptable to disseminate suicide prevention information entirely via social media among young people who have recently been exposed to a suicide or suicide attempt. Interventions such as #chatsafe could potentially mitigate the risk of distress and future suicidal behavior in young people by improving the quality and safety of online communication about suicide and, as such, can be an important component of delivering a postvention response to young people.

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: From the perspective of young people, policy makers and professionals who work within the social media industry, this study aimed to explore (1) the perceived challenges and views regarding young people communicating on social media about self-harm and suicide, and (2) what more social media companies and governments could be doing to address these issues and keep young people safe online. Methods: This qualitative study involved 6 focus groups with Australian young people aged 12-25 years (n=7), Australian policy makers (n=14), and professionals from the global social media industry (n=7). Framework analysis was used to summarize and chart the data for each stakeholder group. Results: In total, 3 primary themes and six subthemes are presented: (1) challenges and concerns, including the reasons for, and challenges related to, online communication about self-harm and suicide as well as reasoning with a deterministic narrative of harm; (2) roles and responsibilities regarding online safety and suicide prevention, including who is responsible and where responsibility starts and stops, as well as the need for better collaborations; and (3) future approaches and potential solutions, acknowledging the limitations of current safety tools and policies, and calling for innovation and new ideas. Conclusions: Our findings highlight tensions surrounding roles and responsibilities in ensuring youth online safety and offer perspectives on how social media companies can support young people discussing self-harm and suicide online. They also support the importance of cross-industry collaborations and consideration of social media in future suicide prevention solutions intended to support young people.