New research on a bit old social network site shows the importance of social media for suicide prevention.

From the press release:

Teens and young adults are making use of social networking sites and mobile technology to express suicidal thoughts and intentions as well as to reach out for help, two studies suggest.

An analysis of about one month of public posts on MySpace revealed 64 comments in which adolescents expressed a wish to die. Researchers conducted a follow-up survey of young adults and found that text messages were the second-most common way for respondents to seek help when they felt depressed. Talking to a friend or family member ranked first.

These young adults also said they would be least likely to use suicide hotlines or online suicide support groups – the most prevalent strategy among existing suicide-prevention initiatives.

The findings of the two studies suggest that suicide prevention and intervention efforts geared at teens and young adults should employ social networking and other types of technology, researchers say.

“Obviously this is a place where adolescents are expressing their feelings,” said Scottye Cash, associate professor of social work at The Ohio State University and lead author of the studies. “It leads me to believe that we need to think about using social media as an intervention and as a way to connect with people.”

The research team is in the process conducting a study similar to the MySpace analysis by examining young people’s Twitter messages for suicidal content. The researchers would like to analyze Facebook, but too few of the profiles are public, Cash said.

Abstract of the research:

The use of social networking sites (SNSs) has proliferated throughout the last several years for all populations, but especially adolescents. Media reports have also identified several instances in which adolescents broadcast their suicidal behaviors via the Internet and/or SNSs. Despite the increase in the usage of SNSs, there has been little research conducted on how adolescents use SNSs to communicate these behaviors. The objective of this study was to explore the ways in which adolescents use MySpace to comment on their suicidal thoughts and intentions. Content analysis was used to identify suicidal statements from public profiles on MySpace. The original sample consisted of 1,038 comments, made by young people ages 13–24 years old. The final sample resulted in 64 comments, where Potential Suicidality was identified. Through content analysis, the following subthemes (within thePotential Suicidality theme) were found: Relationships, Mental Health, Substance Use/Abuse, Method of Suicide, and Statements without Context. Examples and discussion for each subtheme are identified. The comments referenced a significant amount of hopelessness, despair, and desperation. This study provides support that adolescents use public Web sites to display comments about their suicidal thoughts, behaviors, and possible intentions. Future research is warranted to explore the relationship between at-risk behaviors and suicidality as expressed on SNSs.