Thunderclap joins growing list of social tools OK'd for agency use

The social media platform Thunderclap, which is used to amplify causes through synchronized mass sharing, is the latest site to provide amended terms of service for federal agencies, bringing the total number of federally negotiated terms to 66.

A self-proclaimed “crowdspeaking platform,” Thunderclap allows users to set a goal for the amount of support needed to trigger a specific post -- much as the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter allows entrepreneurs to seek investors. Whereas users set a monetary goal on Kickstarter, a Thunderclap goal is based on the people who agree to back the post by donating their “social reach.”  If that goal is met, the message is simultaneously reposted on other platforms by those who pledged their support. The White House used Thunderclap earlier this year to call for  more restrictive gun laws. 

 “Social media is an easy way to say something,” a post on HowTo.gov read. “But sometimes it’s a difficult way to be heard, with the vast amount of content being shared every day. Thunderclap is a ‘crowdspeaking’ platform that helps people be heard by saying something together using their Twitter and Facebook accounts.”

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube and Flickr are among the platforms with federally amended terms of service. While agencies have been know to use such tools without amended terms of service, many sites' general terms can make issues such as copyright and the ability to remove material murky.