This article was published on February 6, 2012

8causes lets you spread the word about your favorite cause via social networks


8causes lets you spread the word about your favorite cause via social networks

Have you ever thought of using social networks to change the world? That’s what the newly launched platform 8causes wants to help you with.

The website, whose name can also be read as “Infinite Causes”, lets users sign up for their favorite cause and automatically tweet about it – think of a Spread.us for good ideas.

Yet, it is worth clarifying that “cause” has to be understood in a broad sense, which go well beyond charities; users can also access the service to share job offers (“vagas” in Portuguese), spread jokes and support their favorite soccer team. Here are some of the ongoing causes currently featured on the website, from lifestyle to sports:


The fact that soccer counts as a cause probably has to do with 8causes’ geographical origins; the platform belongs to the Latin American advertising holding Grupo 42, recently born from the merger of the Brazilian social ad network boo-box and of the Argentine ad tech startup Popego.

While 8causes’ beta version only launched a few days ago, it is actually the latest outcome of a project boo-box had been testing in alpha in Brazil since 2009.

According to the Brazilian startup’s founder Marco Gomes, the test project was a huge success, particularly around election time. The numbers boo-box made public are certainly impressive: its alpha version, which featured individual causes, published more than 1,200,000 tweets by 8,000 users, reaching around 5 million people.

Grouping all causes in one single place, as Grupo42 is now doing, should help 8causes have even more impact. When visiting the platform, users can submit a new cause for free; they can also join existing causes, and start monitoring their growth over time.

On the other hand, boo-box hopes to leverage its knowledge of the online advertising segment to find brands interested in sponsoring a cause and engaging with online users.

Are you using 8causes to spread messages? Let us know in the comments.

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