What you need to know
- Snapchat will roll out a new "Here For You" feature in the coming months to help its users experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis.
- The feature will work based on terms you search within the app, "including those related to anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts, and bullying."
- Snapchat is most popular among younger users who may be more susceptible to bullying or suggestive content.
Social media can really take a toll on your mental health these days, and companies are starting to take an active interest in curbing this phenomenon. One of the most recent initiatives comes from Snapchat, which is one of the most popular apps amongst young users. Many of whom are most susceptible to bullying or being influenced by posts on social media.
To help support its users experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis, Snapchat will introduce a new "Here For You" feature in the coming months. It will work based on terms you search for in the app that could be related to sensitive topics surrounding mental health or bullying.
Here For You, which will roll out in the coming months, will show safety resources from local experts when Snapchatters search for specific topics, including those related to anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts, and bullying.
Snapchat isn't the only company to try to tackle bullying and the pressures of social media. For example, in 2019, Instagram began testing hiding likes, as well as requiring users to enter their age at sign up. It also introduced an AI filter to help detect possibly offensive comments and will encourage them to change the comment before posting. There is even a new Restrict feature that allows you to hide a user's comment from everyone except them and prevents them from seeing when you're active or online.
