Our contribution to Mental Health Week in Ireland

By
Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Protecting our users and creating a positive and trusted online environment is paramount to Twitter, and for this reason we work with a number of organisations that support people experiencing mental health difficulties.

Together with The Union of Students in Ireland, See Change and St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services, on November 10 we announced the Chats for Change campaign to promote mental health resources to the public.

These organisations have a longstanding reputation for helping people in times of need. They are now extending this expertise into the digital space, experimenting with new ways of providing support to people online. Chats for Change is an exciting campaign bringing people together to encourage open conversations about mental health.

Through an Ads for Good campaign, the hashtag #LetsTalk was used by people who wanted to discuss their experiences with mental health.

As part of our effort for mental health awareness, earlier this year we organized a focus group with our friends at Spunout that saw young people come together in our European HQ to brainstorm about how Twitter can have a positive impact on mental health.

We also ran a Twitter workshop in conjunction with The USI to invite young students in Ireland to discuss our approach and establish new ways in which we can work together.

As we continue to grow our safety efforts, the importance of Spunout and The USI’s contributor feedback have been instrumental to us.

Mental health is an area we deeply care about, and we have worked with a number of experts globally to ensure that our users can find the best resources. This network of trusted resources have information that can help with suicide prevention and mental distress.