Boost self-esteem & confidence by appreciating a mate:

Here’s something that was conceived by the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre for 13-17 year olds, but it’s just as useful for the not-so-young. It’s a free Appreciate A Mate app – a new approach to countering cyber-bullying and poor self-esteem in young people.

“This new app – based on evidence that gratitude is good for you – gives young people a simple digital tool to share compliments with each other, starting a positive cycle of online communication,” explains CEO, Associate Professor Jane Burns.

The app was developed with expert advice from The Butterfly Foundation on how the campaign could best promote positive body image and build self-esteem.

Appreciate A Mate is an app that instantly generates messages of appreciation. You can shake it, swipe it and mix up the colours on over 50 positive messages. The app makes it easy for young people to share positivity online.

“Young people told us the building blocks of self-esteem were acceptance and feeling valued by the people closest to them – their friends and family. This is entirely consistent with international evidence. They gave us feedback on the campaign idea and even wrote the messages that you see in the app,” A/Professor Burns said.

Hundreds of young people also influenced development of the app, including 14-year-old Lotte Beckett.

“I think Appreciate A Mate is a fantastic way to improve the mental health of young people, and change the way we think about the effect our words have, in both a broad and personal context,” said Lotte.

Co-collaborator Belle Campbell, also 14, note that “Appreciate A Mate is the perfect way to channel the influential powers of social media into a healthy and supportive tool – it’s engaging and easy for young people to utilise.”

Appreciate a Mate lets users create inspirational and beautiful quotes and share them via popular social media channels – Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter – or other choices.

It’s available for free download from the App Store; android and desktop users can access the campaign here.