Reddit lets users support one another with Crisis Text Line partnership
A new text service will connect users with trained counselors.
As the topic of mental health becomes less of a social taboo, tech companies are increasingly exploring ways they can do good in this area. Reddit is the latest to do so, today announcing a new partnership with Crisis Text Line. Through this partnership, redditors will receive a private message directing them how to connect and text with a trained crisis counselor at the moment they need them.
Redditors will be sent the message if other users flag them as struggling with troublesome thoughts. The service is also available to those that report someone else, since doing so can bring up difficult emotions in itself. The trained crisis counselor on the other end will message back and forth with the redditor for as long as they need, via a secure online platform. The service is free, and available 24/7.
The initiative joins a number of others already operational across the web. Facebook, for example, has been developing its AI suicide prevention tools since 2017, while Instagram launched a range of similar support measures back in 2016.
