the following ideas in this proposal are all my own - i used ai to format the text
Concept Brief: A Human-Verified Social Network
For the Person, By the People
The Problem
Today’s social platforms are dominated by:
Bots & anonymity: Hard to know if you’re engaging with a real person or a troll farm.
Algorithmic manipulation: Feeds amplify outrage, division, and misinformation.
Virality over trust: Extremes drown out thoughtful voices, harming mental health and civic discourse.
Result: polarization, anxiety, and erosion of trust.
The Vision
A government-backed or private donation backed civic utility: a verified, human-only, non-algorithmic network.
Every profile = a real person, verified through government ID or community trust.
Chronological feeds: No algorithms shaping what you see.
Human-scaled circles: Each user follows up to 150 “close” accounts, mirroring natural social limits.
Two levels of conversation:
Circle Feed – private, intimate, self-moderated.
Highlights Feed – broader discourse, limited in scale and transparent in rules.
Privacy & Freedom of Choice
Not anti-anonymity: Anonymous forums and encrypted messengers already exist. This is the complementary layer where people can interact as verified humans.
Self-moderation: Circles are small enough to manage their own tone and norms.
Voluntary activation: Profiles tied to IDs exist by default but remain dormant unless activated.
Civic Benefits
Trustworthy communication: No bots, no brands, no hidden agendas.
Mental health: No doomscrolling, no viral manipulation.
Democratic value: A public square built for citizens, not advertisers.
Equity: Universal access, sustained as a civic utility (like libraries or postal services).
Why Now?
AI & bots are flooding the internet — human-only spaces are urgently needed.
Disillusionment with platforms has created demand for alternatives.
Attention scarcity demands spaces that respect human limits.
Call to Action
Governments can lead by establishing this as a public good.
Just as IDs enable trust in the physical world, a verified digital commons will restore trust and intimacy online.
Tagline:
A social network without bots, brands, or algorithms. Just people.
The inherent solution to our modern psychological conflict
so it seems that humans are being drawn into conflict or negative loops more and more. it seems that social media and negative news cycles are some main contributors to this. the issue seems to be that an extreme point of view gets attention and it attracts the opposite extreme point of view as a balance - then outrage causes less extreme people to be drawn into the conflict and forced to 'choose' a side. it doesn’t seem to be getting better.
context and nuance are more important with the more information that is available but extreme points of view disregard context and it is hard to oppose an extreme view with a moderate one - due to the nature of duality an extreme view can only be balanced with an opposing extreme view.
now for most people their lives do not reflect the extreme scenarios that they often play out in their head - they may be possible but not usually probable. and even if an extreme scenario did play out for them the anxious thoughts leading up to it won't help regardless.
so it seems that much of the conflict right now is imaginative - at least individually. There are people who are, for example, victims of hate crimes - but it becomes far more destructive when large groups of people react and have anxiety that because the crime happened that it could happen to them, or again, etc. this is not helping the victim, the cause, or the people having the anxiety.
so i’m setting this all up to propose an idea. now that ai is creating content that is not real, and news sources are creating stories that are misleading or false, and there are more fake viral videos, etc. it seems that all these are contributing to the idea that people are being led to to the fact that they can't trust any information they do not have firsthand, or secondhand from a trusted source.
the more artificial content there is, the more bots and ai agents that are out there creating false or contrived content, the greater likelyhood that people will not trust the information stream available to them thirdhand. this could be the thing that saves humans from continuing down this destructive path. this could be the thing that forces humans to think more critically instead of reactively about the information they receive.
A Television Show called “The Reveal”
A show that is comprised of clips of the final reveals of miscellaneous programming - home improvement, auto, or any show of the like. Episodes can be focused on more emotional content, funny/quirky, etc…
‘Work Dog’ Smart Toolbox
A toolbox/caddy that is motorised and outfitted with location sensors to follow you around a job site.
The work dog can be set to a ‘home’ location at the beginning of a job so when the work is complete you can instruct it to ‘go home’ while freeing up the user to carry other items.
The work dog can be told to ‘stay’ or ‘follow’. When in follow mode the work dog will stay within a set distance to the user and every time the user changes location the work dog will follow the user; For professional cabinetmakers or mechanics this keeps all the important tools at their side eliminating trips to a bench or carrying a toolbox from one area to another.
If the user wants the tools to remain in a static location they can tell the work dog to stay.
Work dogs can have a smaller wheel based system for use on flat surfaces or can be upgraded to a tank track system that can handle rough terrain. The work dog’s sensors keep it from hitting objects, getting stuck, and going over drops (e.g. stairs).
Trading Post Website
A website where users can list items that they own but are willing to trade because of lack of interest/use. Each user would have a page of items and if a user saw an item on another user’s page that they were interested in they would click on that item to put in a trade request. The owner of the item could then browse the page of the user who put in the request and see if they have anything that they would be willing to trade for.
Users can also have a wish list of items they are interested in but have not found on the site - if the item shows up then the user can be notified and put in a trade request.
Algorithms can also be used to set up multiple partner trades - if the algorithm sees a trade request and the owner is not interested in the requestor’s items then it can locate a third user who has an item on the owner’s wish list and offer up a three way trade to the users.
Users could offer up for trade items they own or services they are willing to perform but cash deals are not allowed.
this idea is mine and I used AI to format the text
War Profit Redistribution Act
The purpose of this Act is to ensure fair distribution of profits earned by corporations from military engagements, reflecting the contributions and sacrifices of American taxpayers and veterans.
Profit Redistribution
Mandatory Redistribution: All corporations that profit from military engagements must redistribute a portion of their net profits according to the following guidelines:
40% of net profits to Veterans and Veteran Services
30% of net profits to American Taxpayers
30% of net profits may be retained by the corporation
Phased Payment Plan:
Corporations are required to pay back the allocated funds over a period of ten years, at a rate of 10% per year.
Each year, 4% of net profits will go to Veterans and Veteran Services, 3% to American Taxpayers, and 3% may be retained by the corporation.
This phased payment approach allows for sustainable financial planning for corporations while ensuring ongoing support for veterans and taxpayers.
Allocation and Distribution
Veteran Allocation:
Establish a dedicated fund managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to receive and allocate the 40% designated for veterans and veteran services.
Funds must be used to improve healthcare, housing, education, employment opportunities, and other support services for veterans.
Taxpayer Allocation:
Establish a national Taxpayer Dividend Fund managed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to receive the 30% designated for taxpayers.
Funds must be distributed annually to all U.S. taxpayers through direct payments, tax credits, or reductions in federal tax rates.
Corporate Allocation:
Corporations may retain 30% of net profits derived from military engagements.
These retained profits must comply with existing tax laws and regulations.
Support law enforcement by creating new separate agencies.
Armed Civilian Engagement
The armed branch could be teams who would serve a specific area. The training should be strict militaristic/martial arts with the training centered on Psychology, respecting life and understanding that lethal force is the final resort. This branch would only respond to violent threats and their training would also help them to decide if another professional (social worker, mental health professional, etc…) was better suited for the situation; they could stand watch until the proper help arrived and stay if it was decided that they may be needed. Violence begets violence and should only be used as the last resort to protect another or oneself. This branch should be highly trained and the salaries and benefits should reflect the seriousness of the position. They should be considered as elite as the Seals, Green Berets, etc… and earn the respect of the public they defend, especially the most defenseless.
Traffic control
I believe we can eliminate the need to physically pull over a motorist by an individual carrying a weapon. In most cities there are traffic cameras and on interstates they can track you from toll to toll so it should be easy to use those systems to enforce some infractions in applicable areas - drones could also be used.
We could have traffic control clerks that would drive with traffic and if they saw a violation they could have their dash camera take a photo of the license plate, they would then follow the offending vehicle with flashers on: If the driver knows why he is being cited and does not wish to pull over he can continue driving and after a period of time the clerk will cease pursuit and issue the ticket to the offending motorist by mail - the motorist can then appeal the ticket. In this way the motorist does not have to stop if they choose not to. If the clerk feels the situation is out of control or could be dangerous they would place an emergency call to the armed civilian defenses who would assist.
Training should be important: traffic control clerks should know that they are setting the standard and should always drive safely following all traffic laws. These should be skilled drivers who understand safe traffic flow speeds depending on conditions, zipper merging, etc… They should be our best drivers and know that their presence is not only a model but can also be a calming influence on traffic.