Learn about this project

This idea came to me while I was studying to become a social worker. I was learning how to help people navigate real challenges—mental health, financial strain, housing, relationships—and I began to notice something. So many of the solutions already exist in the world, but they're hard to find, disconnected, or buried beneath bureaucracy and noise.

That’s when a lightbulb went off: what if modern web technologies—especially the connective power of social media—could be used to actually solve problems, not just scroll past them?

I started sketching out ideas. Wireframes. Mockups. I shared the concept with friends and the public. As the vision became clearer, I realized I couldn’t rely on someone else to build it. I needed to pause everything and learn how to develop the site myself.

This site is the result of that decision.

While today’s social media is often framed as addictive or even harmful, it’s also proof that humans crave connection. I believe we can reimagine these platforms to be more intentional—more helpful. The mainstream options are limiting us. This project is my attempt to explore what could come next.

The purpose of this website is to organize solutions to problems—big or small—by giving people the tools to think clearly, collaborate openly, and share ideas meaningfully.

Many problems in the world feel too large or too tangled to solve. But often, what holds us back isn’t a lack of ideas—it’s a lack of structure. This platform is designed to help break complex issues into smaller, solvable parts, and to allow people to engage with the parts they care about or understand best.

It’s also a space for creativity and expression, especially for voices that don’t always get heard. If someone has a great idea—whether they're young, old, experienced, or just starting out—I want them to have a way to put that idea into the world and see how it fits into a larger solution.

This isn’t just a static site—it’s a living, evolving project, and even the app itself is treated as an “issue” that can be improved over time. People can contribute ideas, suggest changes, or even fork the project entirely.

Transparency matters here, so the app is fully open-source—you can read the code, reuse it, or help build it. And because safety matters too, I also plan to integrate AI-powered content moderation, so that meaningful conversation is protected from harm while staying open and inclusive.

All content on this platform is voted on using a 0–10 scale. This is a major shift from mainstream social media algorithms, which typically rely on simple upvotes and downvotes.

A score of 0 means something like "This is a bad idea" or "This is not an important issue." On the other end, a score of 10 means "This is a great solution or issue—more people should be talking about this."

Each piece of content displays three key metrics:

• The average score based on all votes
• Your personal score, if you’ve voted
• The total number of votes the content has received

This voting system encourages more nuance and thoughtfulness, helping prioritize content not just based on popularity, but on quality, impact, and relevance.

Any issue or solution can be part of this platform.

It might be something global and urgent, like "Saving the whales," "Ending gun violence in America," or "Combating climate change."

Or it could be personal and local, like "Finding mental health support," "Fixing the streetlights in my neighborhood," or "Getting clean water to a rural town."

It might even be creative and specific—like "Building a student-run art gallery," or "Designing a reusable packaging system for a small business."

This platform is open to problems and ideas of any scale, background, or perspective. If it matters to someone, it belongs here.

The Public Think Tank is for everyone.

It’s for people who care, people who question, and people who imagine better ways of doing things. It’s for students, parents, educators, builders, artists, activists, thinkers, and doers.

You don’t need to be an expert to participate. All you need is an idea, a question, or the desire to help.

But more than anything, this platform is for the future. For young people and future generations who will inherit the consequences of the decisions we make today. This site is built as a living space where ideas grow over time, where problems are addressed not just for today—but for tomorrow and beyond.

Whether you’re solving a local problem or contributing to global change, this is a space where your voice matters.

There are a few ways you can help move this project forward:

Support the project
I’m currently funding this on my own, and every donation helps. With enough support, I could dedicate myself to working on this full-time—and build the features this platform truly needs.

Join the community
This project isn’t meant to be built in isolation. I’m actively looking for collaborators—designers, developers, thinkers, and testers—who want to be part of building something that matters.

Become a beta tester
Want to try out the site before it launches? Sign up to be notified when the beta version goes live and help shape the future of the platform.

Every bit of support—whether it’s time, ideas, funding, or feedback—helps bring this vision to life.