A talk presented to the Engaging Youth...Let the Dialogue Begin workshop hosted by Canadian Mental Health Association of NB. Explores the intersection of youth suicide and social media: ways in which digital communications can amplify harm and risk, and ways in which in which they can be used for outreach, support, and promotion of positive narratives at the individual, community, and societal levels.

1. Will the Kids Be
Alright?
Making Sense of Social Media
Bonnie Stewart
@bonstewart
University of Prince Edward Island
October 2014

2. Conceptual Tools
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/zzpza/3269784239/

3. Overwhelmed by Networks
hphp//www.markengpilgrim.com/2014/01/facebook-­‐is-­‐the-­‐most-­‐visited-­‐social-­‐network-­‐twier-­‐and-­‐google-­‐ed-­‐for-­‐3rd.html

4. Oversimplified Cultural Messages

5. Black white perspectives
hp://gossipgenie.com/viewpoint-­‐im-­‐a-­‐social-­‐media-­‐addict/

6. 3 Stories
• Technologies as culture
• Pandora’s box
• Making a difference

7. #1. Technologies as Culture
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/94342662@N00/3869483214/

8. Digital technologies amplify
power reach.
They are communications on steroids.

9. But the issues they reveal are NOT new

10. #Retaeh

11. hp://www.businessinsider.com/two-­‐arrests-­‐in-­‐rebecca-­‐ann-­‐sedwick-­‐suicide-­‐2013-­‐10

15. So. We have a problem.
But when we stick that problem in a
box called ‘cyberbullying’
or ‘social media,’ we limit our capacity
to understand how deep it is, and
how it works.

16. The playground

17. …without supervision
hps://roadtrippers.com/blog/the-­‐worlds-­‐worst-­‐playgrounds-­‐are-­‐where-­‐fun-­‐goes-­‐to-­‐die

18. …and without support.

19. ‘Then he said, I'm going to give you the
same advice that I give to everyone else
with this problem: Stop using social media
and get rid of your computer.”
Nicole replied that she wasn't the one
who had a problem with the computer—
it was Adam who had that problem.’
- Beaumont, 2014

20. #2. Pandora’s Box
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelrperry/2221259599
hp://www.flickr.com/photos/felmarah/5078680202

21. 4 qualities of digital communications
• Persistence: automatically recorded archived.
• Replicability: made out of bits; can be duplicated.
• Scalability: potential for massive visibility.
• Searchability: accessible through search.
- danah boyd, 2010

22. Social media networks are relational,
like oral culture,
but leave permanent traces,
like print culture

23. Not about online/offline

24. To understand stories of social
media, we need to understand
many-to-many
communications.

25. Social Media Broadcast Media
hp://ezasseenontv.com/tag/as-­‐seen-­‐on-­‐tv-­‐store/

26. Social networks are not just for consuming,
but connecting.
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/ooohoooh/1350774613/

27. Social networks are made of
people and signals.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmesis/21126825/

28. Once Pandora’s box is opened…
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/tschiae/8370666089/

29. Small private signals can travel to
audiences never imagined
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/taoodjay/4129779298/

30. …which can be a source of shame,
and/or a source of speaking back.
Much depends on the way those
signals are received.

31. hp://www.cnn.com/2014/07/18/living/jada-­‐iamjada-­‐teen-­‐social-­‐media/
““There’s no point in hiding. Everybody has
already seen my face and my body, but that’s not
what I am and who I am.”

32. WAIT
#3: So what makes the difference?

33. Suicide
“The person in whom invisible agony reaches a
certain unendurable level will kill herself the same
way a trapped person will eventually jump from the
window of a burning high-rise…Their terror of
falling from a great height is still just as great…The
variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames:
when the flames get close enough, falling to death
becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors.
It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames.”
― David Foster Wallace

34. Institutional approaches to network
problems = BOOM
hp://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/8672846415/

35. Speaking back at the individual level

36. Letting people know they’re not alone
hp://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanr/142455033/

37. Reaching out

38. United
States
Surgeon
General
-­‐
2012
Naonal
Strategy
for
Suicide
Prevenon
p.15[1]

39. Speaking back at the community
level…
Social media can be used to
take the temperature
of individuals/communities,
build relationships,
and allow immediate outreach.

40. Sharing resources around suicide

41. Engaging youth voices

42. Creating public resistance to
stereotypes
hp://dailyxtra.com/toronto/news/tweeters-­‐name-­‐and-­‐shame-­‐homophobes-­‐christopher-­‐peloso%E2%80%99s-­‐death

43. Speaking back at the societal level:
Changing the conversation
• Emphasize help-seeking prevention
• Share warning signs risk/protective factors
• Highlight effective treatments
• Counter stories that present suicide as a
common or inexplicable event
• Counter stigma with protest, education,
connection
Condensed
from
hp://suicideprevenon.ca/wp-­‐content/uploads/2014/05/strategicmessaging.pdf

44. hps://www.flickr.com/photos/jfernsler/8330506497
How do we begin?

45. 1. Build an identity

46. 2. Build a network
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6934127903/

47. 3. Make your signals #visible
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/vinothchandar/5251078306

48. 4. Amplify the good. Share what needs
to be heard.
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/stopdown/2837077634/

49. 5. This call is being recorded.
Take the high road.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21031300@N02/4076687726/

50. 6. Lather, rinse, repeat
hps://www.flickr.com/photos/repairgenius/7258035052

51. Social media = part of the problem.
It can also be part of making it better.
What signals will you send?

52. Thank you.
@bonstewart
bstewart@upei.ca