Nowadays, we use social media not just as a way to keep in touch, but also as a way to look after one another. A friend who suddenly stops posting on Facebook could be cause for concern and noticing a change in tone in her tweets may cause you to reach out and see how she’s feeling.
Jordan Bates, a graduate student in ASU’s Center for Policy Informatics, has come up with one way to begin identifying language that could be a cause for concern.
He did this as part of a team at ASU’s Hacks 4 Humanity event in September. The team created software that scans social media for language that could be troubling, so others can reach out.
Bates said the software was modeled after already existing programs. And it has a unique name: Ark Humanity.
Bates said there are lots of potential uses for the application and the team plans to work on refining the software with mental health professionals in order to make it as effective as possible.
