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Vivaldi

Oh happy day! Not only is it Friday, one of the nicest days of the week, itโ€™s also Vivaldi Socialโ€™s birthday. :tony_happy: ๐ŸŽ‰ Weโ€™ve now been on Mastodon for two wholesome years.

We choose to do things that make your experience on the web better and we wholeheartedly believe that Vivaldi Social does just that. We want to provide a platform where people can join in on the smart, funny, and empathetic conversations taking place all over the Fediverse.

The only thing we wish for our two-year birthday is for more people to experience the power of the Fediverse, so make sure you tell a friend about Vivaldi Social today!

Hereโ€™s to many more years! :tony_wee:

With love,
Team Vivaldi

#Vivaldi #VivaldiSocial #Birthday #Mastodon #Fediverse

Oh happy day! Not only is it Friday, one of the nicest days of the week, itโ€™s also Vivaldi Socialโ€™s birthday. :tony_happy: ๐ŸŽ‰ Weโ€™ve now been on Mastodon for two wholesome years.

We choose to do things that make your experience on the web better and we wholeheartedly believe that Vivaldi Social does just that. We want to provide a platform where people can join in on the smart, funny, and empathetic conversations taking place all over the Fediverse.

Show previous comments
Stefan Frede

@Vivaldi Will there ever be a way to reactivate an account I accidentally deleted (I was young and didn't know how Mastodon worked)? I would love to switch to Vivaldi Social but I can't stand the '1' in my username.

Ypsilenna Gloomvale

@Vivaldi Happy Birthday, Vivaldi.Social! Glad to have you around, thanks for creating such a nice instance! :mastolove:

Vivaldi

Are social media platforms that utilize algorithmic feeds inherently anti-free-speech?

In normal discourse, we all have a voice and we all have the choice whether to listen. In the algorithmic space, formulas are used to decide which voices to amplify and also which voices to de-amplify.

Here on Vivaldi Social (Mastodon), I see posts that people I follow post, including posts they choose to boost. No formulas needed. This is, IMHO, the closest to free-speech you can find, although there are some hate speech rules, which is IMHO a good thing. Basically the same as in normal, social discourse.

On Facebook I see posts Facebook thinks I want to see (and boy do they get it wrong), as well as a lot of AI generated nonsense. There are some posts in there that I am interested in, but most are not.

Twitter has turned into amplification of what Elon wants to amplify, mostly hate speech and misinformation. There are still interesting voices in there, but they are harder and harder to find.

What do you think?

#Facebook #Twitter #Mastodon #fediverse #SocialMedia

Are social media platforms that utilize algorithmic feeds inherently anti-free-speech?

In normal discourse, we all have a voice and we all have the choice whether to listen. In the algorithmic space, formulas are used to decide which voices to amplify and also which voices to de-amplify.

Here on Vivaldi Social (Mastodon), I see posts that people I follow post, including posts they choose to boost. No formulas needed. This is, IMHO, the closest to free-speech you can find, although there are some...

Anonymous poll

Poll

Agree
164
85.9%
Disagree
27
14.1%
191 people voted.
Voting ended 11 November at 13:13.
Show previous comments
Tim Chambers

@jon I'd agree that closed, proprietary algos definitely bless some speech and surpresss others. Studies show YouTube's algo recommendation drives over 77 percent of all video views. What I hope for the Fediverse is that most clients default to just a reverse-chron algo, but then also let USERS create, share and tweak algorithms, that they are empowered to use, or not use.

Tyrion ๐Ÿง๐Ÿดโ€โ˜ ๏ธ

@jon

The pedantic in me notes that "algorithms" can be a bit vague (after all, old/new sort is an algorithm ๐Ÿค“), but I do understand you mean the more modern, AI-infused ones, such as engagement, allowed narratives, sentiment (positive/negative, happy/angry), whether bigger/verified/famous accounts interact with the piece of content, etc. provided that the content itself is not hate speech or otherwise illegal.

One of the reasons I like Mastodon over lemmy/reddit is that here we do not have the negative interaction (downvotes) and therefore do not have a negative algorithm that plunges things to the bottom or auto-hides them. If someone is merely saying something like "I like drinking coffee with hotdog water" we can safely ignore them. If we feel strongly, we can reply, and that in itself can mitigate some negativity, as opposed to a downvote and making the person feel bad for their personal tastes. ๐ŸŒญโ˜•๏ธ

@jon

The pedantic in me notes that "algorithms" can be a bit vague (after all, old/new sort is an algorithm ๐Ÿค“), but I do understand you mean the more modern, AI-infused ones, such as engagement, allowed narratives, sentiment (positive/negative, happy/angry), whether bigger/verified/famous accounts interact with the piece of content, etc. provided that the content itself is not hate speech or otherwise illegal.

Dave Rahardja (he/him)

@jon Depends on the algorithm.

Twitter used to show linear timelines. IIRC at one point they moved to a hybrid model where an algorithm would boost interesting tweets in your timeline that you were likely to miss because they were too far down. This kind of algorithm can actually lift marginalized voices that would otherwise be buried in the traffic.

But any algorithm that optimizes for โ€œengagementโ€ is likely to boost incendiary or plain false content because they get a lot of replies. Unless itโ€™s paired with a content moderation system that stamps out intolerant speechโ€”and it never isโ€”such intolerance will get boosted for engagement.

@jon Depends on the algorithm.

Twitter used to show linear timelines. IIRC at one point they moved to a hybrid model where an algorithm would boost interesting tweets in your timeline that you were likely to miss because they were too far down. This kind of algorithm can actually lift marginalized voices that would otherwise be buried in the traffic.

Vivaldi

I have for the last 11 years talked about the problem with user profiling and algorithmic content. Creation of echo chambers and the ability to easily manipulate what people see for marketing purposes and worse. Even made a cat video to try to make the point. I wish more would see this.

The point is not for political parties to see the potential here, but rather to see the risk. The only way to fix this is to ban user profiling.

You have made a good choice to move the the Fediverse. It would help for more of your friends to join us.

politico.com/news/magazine/202

#Politics #fediverse #Mastodon @EUCommission #Privacy #Twitter #Facebook #USPol #USPolitics

I have for the last 11 years talked about the problem with user profiling and algorithmic content. Creation of echo chambers and the ability to easily manipulate what people see for marketing purposes and worse. Even made a cat video to try to make the point. I wish more would see this.

The point is not for political parties to see the potential here, but rather to see the risk. The only way to fix this is to ban user profiling.

Oliver Geer

@jon Thanks for this post - it's probably one of the two main reasons I chose to join Fedi. I know, however, that follower/following dynamics can cause echo chambers, albeit ones that are much more visible and less abusive than those subtly formed by profiling.

Do you have any advice for minimizing these echo chambers, or when an echo chamber may become a problem rather than just being a convenient portal to a common interest?

-0--1-

@jon @EUCommission I work with AI/LLMs alot. It is relatively easy to spot bias when it is spoken out loud; it's more insidious when things are hidden and omitted. Google Gemini and ChatGPT will not answer questions about White, Wealthy, Conservative Men. Google and the tech oligarchs have an agenda.

Show previous comments
Random Tux User :fedora:

@jon
Honestly, I still believe that crypto could be used as legitimate alternative currency that can be private and also act as a universal currency in the age of the internet.

However as you said, most crypto is no longer that. The issue is that there is no actual control on how much any crypto is worth at any given time. Even stuff like art follows the same story because of the same reasons. Instead of using it like actual currency, it's being used as an investment to make more fiat money

Russell Harrower ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ

@jon I disagree, look at coins like Litecoin that normally floats around the $100AUD you say itโ€™s unstable and to volatile here the last 5 years and here is the USD to AUD itโ€™s more volatile and causes more stress to Australian businesses who get bills in USD.

Cryptocurrency is the future, even governments and Federal Reserves are saying that.

Wulfy

@jon

Not a big fan of what crypto has become.
But I was enthusiastic about it earlier.
(Not early enough)

Especially the prospect of #NFT enabling distributed property titles and regulating the scam that are the stock exchanges. eg: short selling used as a weapon to destroy businesses.

I almost feel like folks who assert #crypto is a scam, haven't really looked close enough what the #banksters are doing with the economy, which currently is the alternative.

Go back to trading cows and chickens I say.

@jon

Not a big fan of what crypto has become.
But I was enthusiastic about it earlier.
(Not early enough)

Especially the prospect of #NFT enabling distributed property titles and regulating the scam that are the stock exchanges. eg: short selling used as a weapon to destroy businesses.

I almost feel like folks who assert #crypto is a scam, haven't really looked close enough what the #banksters are doing with the economy, which currently is the alternative.

Vivaldi

Have you already chosen which podcasts youโ€™re going to catch up with this weekend? Well, we have a recommendation that should definitely skyrocket to the top of your playlist. :tony_wee:

In the 3rd episode of โ€œFor a Better Webโ€ podcast, @brucelawson has a chat with @evan. They discuss interconnected social networks, ActivityPub, and the Social Web Foundation.
You won't want to miss this! :tony_happy:

Listen to it on the link below ๐Ÿ‘‡ or find it on YouTube, Spotify and Podcast Addict.

vivaldi.com/blog/better-web/ev

#Vivaldi #Browser #ForABetterWeb #Podcast #ActivityPub #Fediverse #SocialWebFoundation #Mastodon

Have you already chosen which podcasts youโ€™re going to catch up with this weekend? Well, we have a recommendation that should definitely skyrocket to the top of your playlist. :tony_wee:

In the 3rd episode of โ€œFor a Better Webโ€ podcast, @brucelawson has a chat with @evan. They discuss interconnected social networks, ActivityPub, and the Social Web Foundation.
You won't want to miss this! :tony_happy:

erilun06

@Vivaldi @brucelawson @evan
The big question is:
What tool are you using to listen

I personally listen most on my phone so @AntennaPod is the obvious choice for me, being free and open source

Haven't looked too much for an alternative for desktop Linux but I guess any RSS reader (like the one built-in to @Vivaldi) should work quite well

Eliot Lash

@Vivaldi @brucelawson Thanks, this looks interesting! Always happy to hear from @evan.

One request I have in the interest of maintaining an open web, is to please make it easier to find the RSS feed for your podcast. RSS is an OG open standard that helps keep the podcast ecosystem decentralized and outside the control of big tech.

For others looking for the feed, it's here: anchor.fm/s/fa587fdc/podcast/r

Vivaldi

The old macOS 10.15 machine I was using for testing Vivaldi has been upgraded, despite not supporting newer macOS versions.

It actually can run @Vivaldi 7.0 despite reports to the contrary you might have heard.

vivaldi.com/os-support-notice-

โ„น๏ธ I went with the third option (๐Ÿง) under "What can you do now?" in the above article. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Ruarรญ ร˜degaard

It has many more years running @Vivaldi and getting OS security updates left in it.

P.S. The built in camera and mic worked out of the box and the Apple mouse was simple to add. Just added as a new bluetooth device. All in all, no real issues to speak of.

djbiker

@ruario @Vivaldi same on me. But I was comming from the Microsoft univers - 2 decades ago ;-) Now, all my private machines are running on Linux. That's recycling or reuse of old hardware. It's great for fund trading and all my music or private stuff incl Vivaldi Browser ๐Ÿ™‚

Vivaldi

What widget would we win with?

Let us know what addition to the Dashboard you'd like to see! ๐Ÿ‘‡

#Vivaldi #VivaldiBrowser #Dashboard #Widgets #Browser

Show previous comments
jeancf

@Vivaldi a "wide and tall" size option for the Speed Dial widget that allows display of icons and text. I like the Dashboard but I also like my speed dial and I currently feel like I have to sacrifice the latter if I want the former.

hybrid havoc

@Vivaldi I would like the dashboard to sync across devices.

hybrid havoc

@Vivaldi a ToDoist widget would be cool. Right now I'm just launching it by URL but it behaves a little oddly.

Vivaldi

I am curious. What do people use web panels for in @Vivaldi. I have added chatgpt, bsky and mastodon there. But this is more like toying around. I would love to learn what other people do with it and how they enjoy them. #vivaldi

Nikita Karamov

@oliverandrich back when I was using Vivaldi, I used to have Wikipedia there for quick lookups :)

Jeff Triplett

@oliverandrich @Vivaldi I honestly didn't know they existed so now I'm going to have to try it out.

Vivaldi

Which of these Dashboard widgets do you use most frequently? :tony_normal:

#Vivaldi #VivaldiBrowser #Browser #Dashboard #Widgets

Anonymous poll

Poll

Calendar Agenda
19
21.8%
Feeds
33
37.9%
Latest emails
17
19.5%
Tasks
18
20.7%
87 people voted.
Voting ended 5 November at 15:52.
Show previous comments
Gloopsies :fedora:

@Vivaldi

I would use a "download an open source browser" one if it existed

jeremi360

@Vivaldi I don't use it all, I prefer old Speed Dial I don't need any thing else on my start page

Vivaldi

One month update: I really like @Vivaldi. I use it exclusively.

Iโ€™m not a power user, but it does everything I need reliably, and it makes efficient use of the interface, so it just feels like the websites take up more of the screen.

Vivaldi

Finally, #Vivaldi accepts donations. I wrote to @jon about this years ago ("shut up and take my money!") but was sent to their T-Shirt shop instead. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine shirt, even if it's washed out by now.

They are a bunch of idealists, but staying independent with their business model is a hard task and not cheap.

And I still hope they will make the thing fully free software one day.

"Donation" is well hidden, you can find it here: login.vivaldi.net/profile/dona

@Vivaldi

#Browser

Finally, #Vivaldi accepts donations. I wrote to @jon about this years ago ("shut up and take my money!") but was sent to their T-Shirt shop instead. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine shirt, even if it's washed out by now.

They are a bunch of idealists, but staying independent with their business model is a hard task and not cheap.

Cymaphore

They walked away from big money when highly dubious investors came in at #Opera.

Instead of remaining silent and abandoning their principles, they said "fuck you", walked away and started something new. While I definitely prefer free software, I feel sympathy for that courage.

Look at what Opera turned out to become. With it's built in #crypto currency, #AI force feeding, full scale #telemetry and other crap. Pretty much what they (now #Vivaldi people) warned about back then.

@jon @Vivaldi

Vivaldi

I flipping love RSS - getting content I choose, rather than being force-fed by an algorithm, and reading it when I choose. In version 7 last week, we've improved Vivaldi's built-in Feed Reader vivaldi.com/features/feed-read

Vivaldi

New release of Vivaldi on iOS. Version 7.0. Plenty of improvements, but an important highlight is the much faster syncing feature and ability to customize the main menu, the kind of thing you would only expect in Vivaldi.

vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-on-io

#Vivaldi #iOS #iPhone #iPad

Vivaldi

Just installed the #vivaldibrowser across all my platforms. Easy-peasy with the cross-platform sync feature ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป
Save, fast and private๐Ÿšซ๐Ÿชณ

Thank you for doing what you do @Vivaldi ๐Ÿ™

๐Ÿ”— vivaldi.com/

Vivaldi

iOS ็‰ˆ Vivaldi 7.0 ใ‚‚็™ปๅ ด๏ผ :tony_happy:

่ฉณ็ดฐใฏใ“ใกใ‚‰ใ‹ใ‚‰๏ผšvivaldi.com/ja/blog/ios/vivald

#Vivaldi #VivaldiBrowser #iOS #mobile #browser

Vivaldi

Android ็‰ˆ Vivaldi 7.0 ใŒ็™ปๅ ด๏ผ :tony_wee:

่ฉณ็ดฐใฏใ“ใกใ‚‰ใ‹ใ‚‰๏ผšvivaldi.com/ja/blog/android/vi

#Vivaldi #VivaldiBrowser #Android #mobile #browser

hatniX

@Vivaldi Thanks a lot for the new update.

I have issues with the preferences on both of my devices (Lenovo Tab M10, Android 12 & Motorola Moto G52, Android 13).
First of all, syncronizing seems not to include the default search engine. Then, when trying to set those manually, setting the private search engine crashes Vivaldi.
In general there seem to be random crashes within the preferences.

Vivaldi

Moved from #Firefox to #vivaldi a week or so ago and what a difference. Pages load faster, it's more responsive and I wish I'd done it earlier.

Dan Sloane

@NAB I have both installed ostensibly to support something not Chromium-based, but Vivaldi really is a much better experience.

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