The article I read was on mashable.com and was published on 7/6/2013. The articles title is "Can Facebook Predict Suicide Risk." The article discusses how the Durkheim Project app which launched on July 2, will monitor content from multiple social media sites and identify common words or phrases among people who may be thinking about suicide. At this time, it's monitoring only veterans who have higher suicide rates. The app also stores information from a users mobile device. The problem with this is that users have to opt-in and many may not want to do that. I myself think this is a great way to identify someone who may be suicidal and I think that it should be mandatory. Although the article states that no information is given to 3rd parties and that there is a firewall in place to block out potential hackers, I do feel like a lot of people would feel like it was invading their privacy; but I think that the Durkheim Project's benefits outweigh the negative aspects. I feel like a lot of people who are suicidal may actually reach out to people on their social media sites, but no one pays attention and if it was being monitored it could possibly save a lot of lives.
http://mashable.com/2013/07/06/facebook-predict-suicide/
Suicide is such a touchy topic. It blows my mind that people are coming up with apps that can "predict" future suicidal issues. I do agree that people can be very defensive about this app regarding privacy policies. However, this could be such a great new invention that can essentially save lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think anything that could save a life would be very useful.
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