Yubo Partners with Crisis Text Line
PARIS, Aug. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Yubo ( https://yellw.co/) -- the social app for making new friends worldwide -- today announced its partnership with Crisis Text Line, the not-for-profit organization that provides free, 24/7 crisis support via text.
Beginning today, Yubo users in the U.S. who display signs of emotional distress, self harm, or other mental health concerns, will receive a private message with an offer of immediate help. Users will have the option to be connected directly with trained crisis counselors via a medium they already use and trust -- text.
With 95 percent of teens having access to a smartphone[1] and social media capturing the majority of their time, social network communities are becoming the first line of defense in helping to identify someone in crisis.
"Suicide rates are rising across the U.S.[2] and is the second leading cause of death in teens. With so many young people active on Yubo, there was no question that we needed to be part of the solution," said Marc-Antoine Durand, COO at Yubo. "As a community built around real friendships, Yubo's 15M users average two hours per day interacting with each other, so there's a profound opportunity to recognize changes in their friends' emotions -- and now -- a modern way to help."
In addition to user reports, Yubo relies on both human and technical intervention. While trained moderators closely monitor for concerning behavior, Artificial Intelligent bots scan for words related to abuse, bullying, depression, suicide, eating disorders, self harm, and more, to triage and redirect high risk users to the Crisis Text Line. In minutes, the user in distress is given the opportunity to connect with a trained human counselor via chat directly from the Yubo app.
"I'm thrilled with this development – it demonstrates how much Yubo wants to be part of the social media solution," said Anne Collier, Executive Director, The Net Safety Collaborative and Yubo Safety Advisor. "For a decade we've known that young people are each other's best 'first responders' in social media, and this partnership with Crisis Text Line, along with Yubo's AI, gives them the tools to be there for their friends."
Crisis Text Line serves anyone, in any type of crisis, providing access to free, 24/7 support. For help, text 741741 from anywhere in the USA to chat with a trained Crisis Counselor.
About Yubo
Yubo is a social app to meet new friends and stay connected like never before. With more than 15 million users worldwide, Yubo offers the opportunity to meet make new friends with other the same age from all over the world. Chat, send and receive pictures or create video live streams with up to 10 friends at once. Yubo is available for download from iTunes and Google Play smartphones.
[1] Pew Research Center, "Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018"
[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Suicide Rising Across the U.S.", June, Vital Signs
Media Contact: Colleen Wickwire for Yubo, CW Consulting for Yubo, (858) 336-1078, [email protected]
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SOURCE Yubo
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