Threads isn’t the only new app on the block: Roar Social, a platform that aims to bridge the gap between social media and philanthropy, has officially launched this week.
Roar Social isn’t your standard video-sharing app; instead, it’s is platform with a mission to inspire Gen Z and millennials (ages 16-36) to amplify their values and channel viral content towards a greater social purpose. At the heart of the app lies a unique concept: users select one of a dozen “hero” causes, ranging from climate change to mental health to animal rights and more. Every post they share is tagged with the corresponding cause icon, ensuring that all videos on the platform – whether original content or repurposed from TikTok, YouTube or Instagram Reels – are firmly linked to a meaningful cause.
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“Social media for social good is a simple but powerful concept,” said Robert Weiss, CEO and founder of Roar Social. “”Roar Social is meeting a cultural moment. Millennials care deeply about social issues, more than any other generation.”
Unlike other platforms with their conventional “like” button, Roar Social takes a different approach. Instead, users can tap a small cartoon pig, and with each tap, a penny is automatically donated to the chosen cause through the platform’s Roar Giving Wallet technology. The Roar Social Foundation, a registered nonprofit 501(c)(3), serves as the mechanism for collecting and distributing these generous donations.
In the coming months, users will also have the option to direct donations to any charity organization of their choice.
“You can go as deep as you want,” Weiss said. “When we did early testing, we found out that people got paralyzed, like, ‘Oh no, which charity exactly?’ It’s easy to say I support racial equality or mental health. And then once you’re on the platform, you can pick a specific organization if you want to. The key was making it easy and fun.”
To get started, users create a “social giving wallet” and load it with a minimum of $5. The default donation is one cent, with each subsequent tap adding another penny. When the wallet runs low, a reminder prompts users to refill their digital piggy bank.
“I think humans, by nature really do want to make a difference,” Weiss said. “And I think humans, in general, are more likely to do stuff when it’s fun. Other platforms that raise money, like GoFundMe, aren’t fun. And people go there just to do that and they leave. So I want to take the best, most engaging parts of TikTok and Reels and sort of layer on and take this existing behavior, which right now is kind of just used for fun, and then add the purpose behind it.”
