Can social media be a force for good? With WeAre8's Laura Chase

Social media gets a lot of flak. Its critics accuse platforms of causing massive negative externalities on society – everything from crumbling democracies to mental health crises gets blamed on social media.

And “social media” as a term has even become so toxic that social media companies themselves prefer to call themselves anything but “social media”. The tagline to Snapchat’s marketing campaign last year was: “Less social media. More Snapchat.” TikTok calls itself an entertainment platform.

But does social media need to be this way? Perhaps not.

WeAre8 is a challenger platform that wants to prove social media can have a positive social impact. The platform has a unique opt-in advertising experience that enables users to be paid to watch ads, with proceeds optionally donated to charities of their choosing.

The startup calls itself “The People’s Platform” – but does it have the requisite scale to attract advertisers looking for strong business results and not just a morally driven goal of spending with supposedly nicer players?

Laura Chase, WeAre8’s UK managing director, joins host Jack Benjamin to explain the app's features, commercial model and how it is working to attract investment from brands.

"We can fix big problems by watching ads," she says.

During the interview, Chase also reveals that WeAre8 is launching a voice note ad product in time for less healthy food ad restrictions.

Highlights:

5:12: WeAre8's mission to "bring the best of social" while removing "the bad bits"

9:34: Scale, product development and brand-safety efforts

15:12: WeAre8's opt-in ad model: control, effectiveness and charitable benefits

28:44: Supporting publishers and partnering The Independent on Bulletin

38:09: Moving beyond algorithmic feeds

Related articles:

‘This is for everyone’: Tim Berners-Lee is continuing his search for a benign online world

‘Positive’ platforms improve purchase intent, Pinterest says

The Fishbowl: Laura Chase, WeAre8

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Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.

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