A study by the Cyberbullying Research Centre found that 41% of teens upload content to Youtube daily! Because there are so many young people uploading content, the chances of finding someone posting about a topic that is meaningful to another person are pretty good. Some content creators post videos about how they deal with difficult situations and help to destigmatize mental health issues.
While comment features in sites like Youtube can sometimes feature negative behaviour, people can also use the comment feature to provide support such as helping someone feel like they are not alone and who they might go to for help with an issue or to find an answer to a question.
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Tumblr is a blogging platform and community where users can create their own posts on their blogs, but often "reblog" posts by other people. In addition to providing a platform for individuals to support each other, there are built-in safety mechanisms. For example, if someone searches for certain "trigger words" such as "suicide" they will be directed to specific organizations that could help them.
PostSecret began in 2005 as an art project where anonymous people wrote their secrets on postcards and sent them to a specified address. Now, the project has moved online and posts updates every week. This site can be cathartic for people because they are able to share secrets they feel they can't share with anyone else. The site is also a helpful reminder that everyone has struggles even if they don't post about them on Facebook or talk about them in person.
Both of these sites are online counselling and crisis intervention sites. They connect anonymous users with trained volunteers who will listen to the users' problems and provide advice or refer them to professional services.
The phrase "emotional baggage" is a kind of metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech comparing an idea to an image or object without using the words "like" or "as". Picture a person walking with a really really heavy backpack. Now imagine that instead of textbooks and homework and stinky gym clothes, that backpack contains all the bad stuff that ever happened to that person. That's emotional baggage. The website Emotional Baggage Check allows users to "check in" a "bag." Essentially they explain the problem they're having and a volunteer will "pick up" the "bag," or respond to the user via email, offering supporting words or maybe a link to a song they think might be helpful.
Modified from an original article on Mediasmarts.ca