Social media influencers and the Papageno effect: Experimental evidence for the suicide-preventive impact of social media posts on hope, healing, and recovery

Abstract

The media can elicit detrimental and beneficial effects on suicide-related outcomes. Although the bulk of the available evidence focuses on detrimental imitative effects, more recent studies have also investigated the media's preventive potential, especially when focusing on stories of hope, healing, and recovery. Previous studies on this suicide-protective impact, termed the Papageno effect, have often focused on legacy media, such as newspapers, broadcast television, and films. Acknowledging the increasingly important role played by modern digital media environments, the present study investigated the possible suicide-preventive impact of social media posts. Utilizing an experimental design (N = 354) with pre- and post-measurements of suicidal thoughts, the findings revealed that exposure to social media posts on hope, healing, and recovery by an influencer with lived experience of a suicide attempt elicited a significant reduction in suicidal thoughts in a convenience sample of the general population. The reduction was stronger in individuals with comparatively higher scores for suicidal thoughts at baseline. Social media posts on hope, healing, and recovery also increased the intention to seek help when experiencing suicidal thoughts. The evidence is consistent with the idea that social media influencers can contribute to reducing suicidal thoughts and promoting help-seeking intentions. Given that social media plays an increasingly important role, especially for youth, we discuss the important implications of our findings for suicide prevention in the digital age.