WHOA!

@Vivaldi just put Mastodon directly inside their browser!

Has anyone tried this yet?
https://www.pcworld.com/article/1427452/vivaldi-puts-twitter-alternative-mastodon-inside-its-browser.html

This is an audacious move by @Vivaldi.

Right now, Mastodon is still a tiny sliver of Internet use.

I guess they're betting on continued momentum.

So if @Vivaldi's intent was to get me to download their web browser, mission accomplished.

I'm looking at the Mastodon feature. While interesting, it definitely needs work.

Right now, I'm using a 1920x1200 res monitor, and there still seems to be real estate problems.

So in order to find @Vivaldi's Mastodon panel useful, you *will* need to adjust the width. This is not obvious to everyone -- as the saying goes, "Out of sight, out of mind."

Nevertheless, I assume that the default width is what it is so people see the "essentials".

The next thing I notice is branding: @Vivaldi displays this boldly as "Vivaldi Social" followed by "powered by Mastodon" in tiny print.

I'm not against this necessarily, but it's important to keep in mind.

One thing that *is* interesting is how Vivaldi's logo colour now matches their Mastodon instance's colour scheme.

Once you adjust the width of @Vivaldi's side panel, you're now given an option to "Create account".

If I'm a new Mastodon user, I might actually try to do this.

So this is where it get *really* interesting!

When you click "Create account" in @Vivaldi's instance side panel, it opens up a sign-up page.

The URL for this sign-up page can be seen here: https://login.vivaldi.net/profile/id/signup

This page is *very* different from a typical Mastodon sign-up page.

There are seven fields that you must enter, with two checkboxes that you must consider too.

At the bottom there is a blurb about what you should sign up.

All right, this is not apparent: When clicking "Create account", you are not takeng to @Vivaldi's Mastodon instance page at *all*.

You are taken to Vivaldi's general sign-up page.

This implies that you must have a Vivaldi account in order to use their instance.

I wonder if this is true.

CONFIRMED!

If you click "Create account" on https://social.vivaldi.net (@Vivaldi's instance), they will redirect you to https://login.vivaldi.net/profile/id/signup.

Because I am a person of science, I will investigate further.

First, I want to talk about this blurb on @Vivaldi's sign-up page.

It's clear to me that Vivaldi is using Mastodon as part of a suite of social tools that include:

1. Webmail account
2. Mastodon account
3. Blog hosting account

This is part of how they aim to differentiate themselves from Google Chrome.

Sidenote: They're also asking you to give them your phone number.

Here's the screen in @Vivaldi were you give them your phone number.

I've gone ahead and done this because, once again, I'm a person of science.

After updating, I'm continuing to Vivaldi Social powerered by Mastodon.

Side note: Vivaldi Social is definitely being given the rock star treatment.

@Vivaldi

Okay, so here's the biggest, clearest problem right now with Vivaldi Social.

After you click "Continue to Vivaldi Social", you are indeed brought to @Vivaldi's instance.

However, you are not signed in.

So, should you sign in or should you create an account?

This is not apparent.

Nevertheless, I'm going to try to sign-in.

After clickin "Sign in", I discover that I'm indeed signed into @Vivaldi's instance. No need to give them a password.

Good!

Now I'm seeing recommendation for people to follow.

Of course, Vivaldi is at the top of the list. Because this whole exercise is to see how this works, I'm going to follow them.

Here's the next major problem with @Vivaldi's implementation of Mastodon.

After I create an account and sign-in, I click "Sign in" on their side panel.

What happens? "This page isn't working".

Specifically, HTTP ERROR 422.

See screenshot.

So in order to get @Vivaldi's side panel to work, you *must* re-start your web browser after signing into their Mastodon instance.

See, after I did that, it displays fine.

Another interesting thought: after signing into Vivaldi Social, the width is now more "sane".

Here's what composing with @Vivaldi's side panel looks like in browser. It's perfectly functional. Again, at an appropriate width.

All right, I have a few thoughts on @Vivaldi's new built-in Mastodon feature

1. This is an interesting first integration, but clearly needs a lot of work

2. Signing up is confusing -- dare I say, more confusing that the sign up from joinmastodon.org

3. I don't bedgrudge Vivaldi for pushing *their* instance, but it tells me a lot about their ambitions

4. For this to be *very* good, there should be a "Share to Vivaldi Social" option that's built into the browser

5. Again... interesting!

A very IMPORTANT thing to note about @Vivaldi's instance:

This is the most blatantly commercial instance I've come across. Not a complaint -- it's just reality.

Once again, *everyone* should know that not every instance is run by volunteers. Some of them, like social.vivaldi.net, are run with a clear for-profit motive in mind.

Not all instances need your donations.

Vivaldi Social certainly doesn't.