Samaritans App Helps Friends in Need

British suicide-prevention charity Samaritans has just launched a revolutionary app to monitor friends’ twitter accounts, alerting them if it spots any troubling tweets from friends struggling to cope.

The #SamaritansRadar concept was created by digitally-led creative agency Jam, the script was written by ad agency WCRS, and Irresistible Films was brought in to produce the short film to help launch the app.

The #SamaritansRadar app uses a specially designed algorithm that looks for specific keywords and phrases within a Tweet.  It then sends an email alert to the user with a link to the Tweet and offers guidance on the best way to reach out and provide support.

The app is completely free and activated in just two steps from the website.  All alerts are sent directly to the subscriber’s email address, never to their Twitter followers, and the app doesn’t post to Twitter on the subscriber’s behalf.  Twitter is also supporting the launch as part of its global Twitter Ads for Good programme. 

Oliver Goodrum, director at Irresistible Films, said: “It was a brilliant opportunity and a real challenge to bring the script to life with the right balance of sincerity and clarity, especially when pursuing a POV one shot.”