More people are conducting their lives on websites such as Facebook, Bebo and Twitter, and suicide prevention organisations are cottoning on to their ability to help with intervention.
Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand director Merryn Statham said such sites were increasingly being used internationally in suicide prevention work, and she believed it would catch on in New Zealand.
Social networking sites had both positive and negative aspects, by promoting connectedness, but also allowing for the dissemination of sometimes harmful information.
She believed exploring ways to utilise them would be "money well spent" for suicide prevention organisations.
One group which was actively using the sites to connect with at-risk people was Youthline.
Chief executive Stephen Bell said a Youthline team monitored social networking sites continuously.
"We've always had to be where the young people are, and the virtual world is where they are these days."
When a young person committed suicide, messages and comments quickly filled social networking pages.
While Youthline was a prevention service, conversations around suicides were monitored in case some people surrounding the person who committed suicide started exhibiting concerning behaviour.
Staffers would follow those discussions, looking for keywords and phrases which indicated someone might be having negative thoughts or feelings.
If something was noticed, it would be flagged with the organisation's clinical team, and the local Youthline Centre where the conversation was taking place.
Any post would be made by one of the staffers, usually through someone they already knew who was linked to any group where a discussion about suicide was going on.
The decision to post something saying they were there and available if anyone wanted to talk was made on an individual case basis and was a tricky one.
Usually, there would have to be some serious concerns before there was an intervention, he said.
Young people were responsive to them using their medium.
The organisation's text service had had a surprising uptake (text 234) with more than 180,000 texts exchanged each year, most of them from Central Otago and Southland.
Mr Bell did not know why that was, but texting in general could be very private and was even more anonymous than social networking.
Dr Shyamala Nada-Raja, senior research fellow at the University of Otago's Injury Prevention Research Unit, believed using the internet to counteract negative or alarming messages was helpful.
By promoting help-seeking through advertisements and word of mouth, people could find their own way to sites such as The Lowdown and get help for depression.
While exerting control on social networking sites was difficult, the community had a role to play in using modern technology to teach empathy, understanding, self respect and respect for one another, she said.
"We want to be in alignment and close to another and it's one way to do it in our rushed world.
"Connectedness is a strong protective factor against suicide.
Attachment to parents and attachment to peers is probably one of the most important factors that needs to be brought up and ensured in young people's lives."
