A software to better discuss opinions on the internet?

5 hours ago 1

This article is a follow up on my previous one introducing the concept of SE Spectrum:

Existing solutions

For long, the easiest way to run a spectrum was to use visual drawing or diagram tools like Miro, Google Drawing, Excalidraw, or any equivalent. One, generally the host would prepare a setup with different space labeled from “Strongly disagree” to “Stronly agree”. Then while running the spectrum, people would duplicate or create a small pellet to represent their position visually.

And it would look like that:

Screenshot of a spectrum running in Excalidraw

On top of that we would run a voice conferencing tool, like Google Meet, Zoom, Discord, StreamYard, etc.

Pain points 🤒

These tools are generally for collaborations and everybody has the rights. We often end up modifying or deleting the pellet of someone else by mistake.
You need to go back and forth the diagram tool and the voice conferencing to move your positions or mute/unmute yourself.
It requires a bit of setup to prepare your spectrum.
Often all these tools requires you to sign up and login adding even more friction to start and invite participant in your spectrum (Excalidraw is the best one on that point).

This is where I decided to contribute and make a dedicated software for Spectrum

So let me introduce to you OSR Spectrum!

It is an application dedicated to running spectrums online. It was initially made for the French non-profit organization “Opinions sur Rue” (OSR) promoting Street Epistemology in France, but I recently added English translation and the software is now ready to welcome more users!

Features

Can start or join a spectrum with between 2 to 6 participants
No collision, everyone controls only his own pellet
Each spectrum has its own private room/link to share to participants
Integrated text chat including history of the spectrum (positions, new claims, ...)
Integrated voice calls too (still a bit chunky though)
Possible to connect to a live stream chat to get an average vote of the viewers (platforms supported: YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok)
Send emoji reactions or raise hand with an animation alike Zoom, Google Meet, and others
Streamer mode to optimize UI for screen sharing
Localized in English and French
Respect of privacy, nothing is stored it's all in ephemeral memory database. And no login/password.
Open Source software, you can run your own instance

Software Goal 🎯

It's made to be usable as is without the need for anything else thanks to the chat and voice calls included. But you can still definitely use it as you want, if you prefer to use Discord voice channel or StreamYard etc. Opinion sur Rue uses it with StreamYard.

How to use it?

Find participants
Go to https://spectrum.utile.space
Click on “Start a Spectrum”
Fill your nickname and optionally an initial claim
Once started, click on “Copy Link” and send the link to the participants
Once they joined, they can start to move their pellets and the spectrum is ready to go
Optionally, you can activate voice conferencing
During the spectrum, also everybody can send emoji or raise hand