Instagram offers help to people struggling with drug abuse

Instagram is expanding its proactive help to people grappling with drug addiction. The social network will pop up an offer of support when users search for certain drug-related hashtags, including references to opioids and other frequently abused substances. The message won't prevent people from finding material if they insist on it, but it will give them a moment of pause and could help them find treatment referral s as well as prevention and recovery information.

The company devised the solution with help from both the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as well as the Partnership for Drug Free Kids, and describes it as a balance. While there are shady dealers using hashtags to sell drugs through Instagram (already against the service's policy), simply blocking the hashtags could disrupt support networks. This provides them with a ready-made support option without cutting off existing help (or, for that matter, ensnaring people conducting research).

The feature will be visible in the US as of September 12th, with an international rollout coming "soon."

Instagram's pop-up is arguably coming late given the length of the opioid crisis, but it does show that Facebook is tackling drug abuse across multiple platforms, not just its main audience. Not that it necessarily had much choice. The photo-centric service has over a billion active users, so even a simple alert like this could affect millions of people.

Instagram's drug abuse pop-up

Source: Instagram



via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2NE5fGt
RSS Feed

If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml, then send me


Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more