Facebook adds “Trusted Friend”

Facebook has added a new safety feature to their site in an attempt to beat cyber bullying, which allows users to report harassment to a ‘trusted friend’.

Predominantly designed for younger users, the reporting option alerts someone in their support system, for example a parent or teacher, to the problem.

The change, revealed at The White House Anti-bullying Conference, attempts to link online behaviour to real world consequences thus merging online and offline actions. For more serious case, users are put in contact with the police or a suitable organisation.

The website also confirmed other changes that make the site easier and safer to use, including simplifying the language of the safety centre and adding more multimedia materials. In addition to these changes, in an initiative with the Samaritans, members can now acquire help for a friend they believe is struggling to cope or is feeling suicidal.

These changes follow the social networking giant’s recent announcement that it has 30m registered users in the UK, half of the total population. In the past the site has been accused of acting slow on claims of online bullying and general safety on the site.

Are these changes enough to address this issue and tackle online bullying? Or is Facebook merely moving the responsibility away from them, the police and onto others?

Facebook is a founding member of the StopCyberbullying Coalition affiliated with stopcyberbullying.org.