Snapchat has launched new in-app initiatives to foster the mental health and wellbeing of the Australian Snapchat community, particularly its younger users.
For Snap, the health and wellbeing of their community is a top priority, with over 7 million Australians using Snapchat every day, 90% of which are young people aged 13 to 24.
With young Australians increasingly struggling with their mental health, Snap has a responsibility and meaningful opportunity to support Snapchatters by maintaining a safe space for them to communicate with their friends and giving them access to vital resources.
This World Mental Health Day, Snapchat launched a suite of new bullying prevention and mental health campaigns and resources across the globe, including here in Australia.
An in-app campaign with PROJECT ROCKIT, helping give Snapchatters tactics for responding to bullying with a Lens, Filter and Stickers.
The platform has also release in-app ‘Here for You’ content created with local experts headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation, and ReachOut, covering topics like being a good friend, tackling stress, and maintaining a healthy headspace.
‘Here for You’ was launched in 2020, providing in-app support to Snapchatters who may be experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis, with links to relevant resources and exercises to help people cope with such concerns.
Through these partnerships with local experts, the campaign and resources will encourage Australian Snapchatters to be kind to one another and provide them with tools they can lean on if dealing with bullying or mental health struggles.
Lucy Thomas OAM, Project Rockit co-founder and CEO, share her thoughts on using technology to fight age-old issues of bullying.
“As Australia’s youth-driven movement against (cyber)bullying, PROJECT ROCKIT is proud to team up with Snap to build meaningful in-app resources to empower teens to challenge bullying.
“Through the use of Augmented Reality, this new lens, filter, and stickers does so much more than ‘teaching’ teens about (cyber)bullying by actually giving them the opportunity to practice strategies to make a difference when someone needs it most.”
Tracey Campbell, director of marketing at ReachOut, said: “ReachOut is proud to partner with Snap on the ‘Here For You’ portal because we know that social media plays a huge part in the lives of so many teenagers across Australia.
“The more teens that are aware of and access the support resources that are available on Snap the better.”
Zoe Carter, 24-year-old Australian Snapchatter and Global Snap Star who shares stories about her experiences working on remote outback cattle stations to her Snapchat followers around the world, shared her thoughts on the initiative.
“While accessing mental health support services is harder than ever across Australia, as someone who works in regional and remote parts of the country, I know that it’s especially difficult for those in the bush,” she said.
“It’s incredibly useful for someone like me and those in my community to have access to tools and resources like this on Snapchat, where so many are spending time connecting with friends and sharing information.
“Mental health challenges affect so many people, and the easier we can make it to find support, the better,” Carter added.
