Have you ever needed help or wanted to help others in need?  Well there is a website that lets you do that.

Chain.ly is a social platform connecting people who need help with people who can help through the old concept of “chains”.

You can invite people or join a chain.  According to Chain.ly, the more chains you join, the better chance to help those in need.

You create a chain by simply answering “How can we help?”  Then you invite your friends and family members to be part of the chain.  Chainl.ly will then let you know how many other people have been invited to the chain you created by your friends and family members, and so on.  Besides letting you know who joined the chain, it will let you know how fast your chain is growing and the virial ratio - the average number of people that a single person brought into the chain.  The chain, theoretically, can be infinite as more and more people join the chain based on invitations or searches.

Chain.ly was founded by Bruno Ligutti and Arif Mahmood.  Arif Mahmood explains why they started Chain.ly. “Chain.ly’s a social platform that connects people that have the need with the people that can provide the help,” co-founder Arif Mahmood told Mashable. “One person can affect another individual’s life.”

So what kind of chains can be created?  It could be anything from raising funds, finding a lost pet, finding a job or even promoting events and businesses.  Chain.ly’s homepage has ads for a missing person, a bike for sale, a promotion for a website, and a lost dog.

You can look for chains locally by searching for a specific location or area.

What do you think of Chain.ly?  Do you think you can use this website for your needs?