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Broad Listening for Consensus

Listen to many voices at once—
scaled with AI for today.

An AI-powered forum for consensus, not division.
Find the sentence everyone can nod to—using broad listening and AI.

Browse public topics How it works

We are in a preparation phase: mission and mechanics are public.
Public topics will open gradually.

Why we are building Shotoku 2.0

For a decade, social feeds rewarded the loudest voices and silenced disagreement. Forums often became places of division, not agreement.

Broad listening, championed by Audrey Tang and others, inverts broadcasting: many voices are aggregated and visualized with AI. vTaiwan used Pol.is to find 95% cross-group agreement on Uber regulation within weeks.

In Japan, similar ideas spread from the 2024 Tokyo governor race through GovTech Tokyo and Digital Democracy 2030. We implement this lineage inside Social9 for governments, companies, and communities alike.

Four design principles

  • 01

    Map terrain, not trench warfare

    We show opinion groups and overlaps—not only which side is bigger.

  • 02

    Score consensus, not headcounts

    Group-aware consensus ranks statements every cluster can accept—majorities cannot steamroll minorities.

  • 03

    Discuss proposals, not people

    Short, single-point statements and UI patterns keep debate on ideas, facts, and lived experience.

  • 04

    AI supports each participant

    Ivy on Social9 helps with drafting, translating across groups, bridging suggestions, and daily digests.

Three audience scopes

Each topic chooses whose voices to gather.

  • Public

    Anyone can read and search engines may index it. Voting/posting requires a Social9 account or verified email.

    Examples: Examples: civic consultations, social issues, participatory policy.

  • Organization-only

    Only members of a chosen Social9 organization can view and vote—ideal for internal alignment.

    Examples: Examples: policy updates, company-wide initiatives, ops improvements.

  • Group-only

    Visible only to a project team or group chat on Social9—great for small-team alignment.

    Examples: Examples: team norms, project decisions, meeting agendas.

How it works in three steps

  1. 1

    Seed the topic and statements

    Publish a topic and 15–25 seed statements; Ivy can suggest candidates.

  2. 2

    Participants vote and add ideas

    Agree, disagree, or pass on each statement in seconds. Add new statements; the map updates live.

  3. 3

    Surface agreement and tension

    Statements everyone can accept rise to the top; fault lines are visible for the next conversation.

Learn more on the mechanics page

Public topics

Your votes draw the consensus map. Join with just a display name where allowed.

See all topics →

FAQ

What is Shotoku 2.0?
It is a forum that builds on global broad-listening practice, Pol.is (vTaiwan), Talk to the City, and Plurality—using AI to visualize agreement beyond yes/no. It runs as a Social9 app for citizens, orgs, and groups.
Can anyone participate?
Public topics are readable by anyone. Voting and posting require a Social9 account or email verification to reduce brigading and abuse.
How is this different from forums or social networks?
Classic boards devolve into punch-ups between sides. Shotoku maps opinion groups and surfaces bridging statements everyone can accept—using group-aware consensus, not simple headcounts.
Why the name “Prince Shotoku”?
Prince Shotoku is said to have listened to ten people at once and ruled fairly. We borrow that ideal for AI that listens at scale and finds ground for agreement.
Can organizations use it internally?
Yes. Each topic can be public, organization-only, or group-only—so you can keep deliberation inside your company or team.
What does Ivy (the AI) do?
Every Social9 user has Ivy, an AI secretary. In Shotoku 2.0 Ivy helps you draft, translate across groups, suggest bridging statements, and receive daily digests.
More FAQ

Consensus can move forward with better tools

Shotoku 2.0 is published as a Social9 app and as a standalone public site by Social9, Inc.
Be an early participant if this resonates with you.

Go to topics Read our mission