Do you have any questions around mental health & social media/Facebook? Ask the experts at Facebook - 3x £100 vouchers to be won

[EllieMumsnet]

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We’ve been working with Facebook to find out the key areas users want to know about the social media platform. From our research and activity so far we have found 4 main areas that parents have questions around: ‘Moderating content’, ‘User's data privacy’, ‘Mental health & social media’ and ‘Safe use of the internet/Facebook’. We will be running 4 Q&A’s in order to cover these areas and allow MNers the chance to ask their questions on each topic.

This Q&A is about ‘mental health & social media/Facebook’. This covers subjects such as: using social media in a positive and healthy way, support groups, the effects social media has on mental health and how to take precautions to mitigate against them, for example managing the amount of time spent on social media.

Here’s what Facebook has to say: “We want to talk openly about the impact spending time on online has on people. For us, Facebook is at its best when it's bringing communities of people together around the issues and causes they care about in a positive way. But it's also our responsibility to help our community of over 40 million people in the UK in every way that we can – and it's a responsibility we take very seriously. It's important to think about the amount of time people spend on social media, and also how they spend that time too."
#AskFacebook

Would you like to hear about the research Facebook have done about mental health and social media? Do you want to know how you can view the amount of time you spend on Facebook? Perhaps you’d like to know more about Facebook’s efforts to fill your feed with your friend’s posts rather than ads? Or maybe you would just like to know more about how Facebook is helping its users have a more positive relationship with social media?

Whatever questions you have around mental health & social media/Facebook, please post them on the thread below and we will choose approximately 10 for Facebook to answer. Everyone who posts their questions will be entered into a prize draw where 3 MNers will win a £100 voucher of their choice (from a list).

If you would like to ask questions about ‘moderating content’ please click here
If you would like to ask questions about ‘user’s data privacy’ please click here
If you would like to ask questions about ‘safe use of the internet/Facebook’ please click here

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

I'd love to know more about all of the "do you want to know..." Questions in OP, I'm very much interested in mental health and I know that social media trends can have a negative impact

Would you consider an optional setting that limits your time on the app to X amount of time an hour/day/one session? I think a lot of people would benefit from it mentally, especially younger people - it could even be an automatic setting up until 16/18

Is any training material automatically sent to FB group admins?

As a mum of teenagers I know that many of them are struggling with exam and other pressures, some to the point of having counsellors to help with their mental health problems. Do you feel that facebook has a role in trying to help alleviate this stress, or are you guilty of adding to the peer pressure they face?

How much has mental health changed since facebook has come out? I feel there has been an increase in anxiety since the rise in social media, is thereany link that Facebook etc has affected this?

What features do you have or are you working on that help children to limit the amount of time they spend on Facebook? I know I spend too much time on it!!

Do you believe social media is being used as a sop to bury the real reasons relating to poor mh amongst young people. Those reasons being an unrealistic expectation around academic achievement than 40/50 years ago and generally wider horizons where young people might seek greater material affluence than previously? Add into the cocktail a camhs system prepared to blame anything other than their inability to offer interventions expediently or to achieve actual diagnoses, do you think that blaming social media plays a small bit part in the overall picture?

What long term studies are being undertaken to assess the lifelong impact direct and constant access and availability to SM has / will have on today’s young people into adulthood? This is the first generation in history that we’ll see this with.

How did you come up with 14 yrs as the age? Do you use studies/experts to inform your responses to teen mental health issues?

How is facebook protecting the rights of women as a sex class from males who identify as 'transwomen'?

i really don't mean this to sound as rude as it's going to, but why would we want advice on mental health and social media from a social media company? is this not like when the tobacco companies were in charge of information about the health implications of smoking?
what makes facebook's "experts" expert?

I work in mental health & encounter many people using social media (mostly Facebook) as a way of connecting to the outside world when they don't feel well enough to do this physically.
People are very vulnerable at this time & while I think it's great that Facebook offers people this route of connecting to others - I'd be interested to learn if Facebook offer links to Mental Health Support providers & specialist advice on dealing with low self-esteem, anxiety & depression.
It would be great to see some positive banners on Facebook reminding users that what they are seeing on profiles is only what each individual WANTS to share - it often doesn't show the difficulties that people have, the distress they experience or the times when things don't go well because people generally don't want others to know about these times!
Some gentle reassurance about this kind of thing might really help.
I look forward to reading the responses.

Could an algorithm be written in highlighting mental health support based on key words searched/written in private messages?

Do you work alongside any mental health charities to use their skills and advice on this sensitive subject?

Can you / do you alter content depending on the time of day? (In whatever time zone it’s being viewed in, obvs)

For example, MoneySavingExpert altered the time they send their regular emails, because they became aware that people were more likely to make impulsive purchases at certain hours of the night.

Do you think it would contribute to wellbeing and good mental health if FB did similar?

Do you think machine learning will be the solution to removing pro ana and other disturbing content?

What kind of links do you have with professional organisations such as the NHS and Royal College of Psychiatrists and are you sharing your research with them?

Can you flag certain sentences such as I'm going to kill my self to alert people if someone's in need of help?

What charities could FB work with to help mental health issues in our young people?

Would you consider having automatic advise/guidance sent to anyone made the admin of a group?

I see others are asking similar questions but I would like to know who you are working with to gain expertise, and how you are sharing what you learn with the industry so we can all improve?

Is there a way fb could be informed when a user posts suicidal messages and posts? Suicide and self harm terms surely could be flagged to ensure a users safety is checked....having children with mental health issues it's of grave concern that they could post something with controls in place so I, and their family, couldn't see it but be in desperate need of support. Even live comments on the Independents live fb are peer moderated and any concerns easily flagged.

There's a fine line between moderating words and phrases that users may type relating to their mental health and their privacy. How would you monitor suicidal or self harm indications whilst giving the user privacy within their posts or messages they would hope for in a social media platform?

What happens your end once someone has flagged an account as being of concern for self-harm/suicide?

When are you going to stop allowing videos to be shown that show people dying horrendous deaths! I reported one and apparently it didn't break any of your guidelines.

Are there any channels on Facebook, for those suffering with poor mental health to utilise. I.E. a link to an appropriate charity/support group being visible on posts flagged as potentially triggering/upsetting?

I’m thinking along the lines of the support channels that are listed on the tv if a particularly emotive subject has been covered in the previous programme.