Launching FeelFree: An Anonymous and Open Source Platform for Sharing Worries

Total Hours: 56 Total Cost: $72

Sometimes, the best ideas come from casual conversations. While talking with a friend, he shared how difficult it was to open up about his worries without seeking therapy. This sparked an idea in my mind: what if there was a platform to share worries anonymously and get support from others?

Within hours, I started spinning up a new Laravel project. Here's how I turned this idea into reality.

Database Design

To build this platform, I focused on the following key features:

Anonymous worry posting: Users can share their worries without revealing their identity.
Reactions for support: Others can send reactions to show empathy or support.
Anonymous comments and replies: Discussions stay anonymous, with comments supporting replies.
Reaction analytics: Comments can have reactions, too.
Post analytics: Posts track basic stats like views.
Anonymous architecture: No personally identifiable information is stored.

I used Excalidraw to sketch out the Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD). Here's the initial prototype:

Addressing Spam

While building the app, I realized spam prevention was essential. Here are the measures I implemented:

Users can post one worry per minute.
Reactions are limited to one every ten seconds.
Comments are restricted to one per minute.

Although not perfect, these limits reduce the risk of spam and improve platform usability.

Future Plans

There’s always room for improvement. Here’s what’s next for FeelFree:

Add nested comments to deepen conversations.
Enable additional reaction options for more expressive support.
Integrate tags for better worry categorization.
Enhance the user interface for a smoother experience.

FeelFree is now live at https://tryfeelfree.com/. I’m excited about the potential impact this platform can have in creating a safe space for emotional expression.

What do you think of this project? I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions for improvement! Let me know!