Discord (software)
Discord is a free voice, video, and text chat application that enables users, primarily ages thirteen and older, to communicate within communities known as servers. Launched in 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, it was originally designed for gamers, allowing them to connect while playing. Over the years, the platform's user demographics have broadened significantly, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when non-gaming communities, such as clubs and educational groups, began utilizing its features for various discussions and activities.
Users can create servers tailored to different topics and interests, setting rules and guidelines for participation. Within each server, creators can establish channels that focus on specific subjects, and moderators can ensure compliance with community standards. While Discord is known for its flexible and user-driven environment, it has faced criticism due to instances of inappropriate content and behavior among users. The platform allows for customizable privacy settings, enabling users to manage their interactions and control who can contact them. Discord also offers a premium service called Discord Nitro, which enhances video and audio quality among other features. Notably, the company emphasizes privacy, stating it does not sell user data or share it for advertising purposes.
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Discord (software)
Discord is a software application developed in the United States and used by tens of millions of people around the world. The app allows users to message each other using free voice, video, and text messaging on the platform. When Discord launched in 2015, it was originally designed as a messaging and communication tool for gamers. In part because of the demographics of gamers in America, Discord’s early users were mostly young to middle-aged white men. However, the demographics of the app changed as the company became more popular. As of 2020, thousands of users communicate through group communication channels and through direct messages every day.
Background
Two gaming engineers named Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy worked together to create Discord. The friends first collaborated in 2013 to work on making video games together. However, they were unhappy with their games. The friends decided to create a platform for gamers to communicate with each other, and they launched Discord together in 2015. Discord quickly became a favorite communication app for gamers. Users could chat—through text, video, or audio—while they played their games. Citron and Vishnevskiy developed desktop and mobile versions of the app, and they made it available to users for free. These advantages made it attractive, and by July 2017 it had 45 million registered users.
Although the app was very popular, it also had the reputation of being a place that attracted members of the alt-right, who were known for being racist and xenophobic. In 2017 members of the alt-right and other members of the political right gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, for a protest they called Unite the Right. Some Discord members planned the protest on the app. After a counter protester was murdered, Discord was contacted about the role their application played in planning the event. The company made some pages to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
As of 2020, Discord user demographics had shifted, especially as people began using the Discord message function for countless topics in addition to gaming. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the app became even more popular as groups—such as school groups, scouting groups, and book clubs—used the app’s free video and voice messaging to communicate. By June of that year, Discord had roughly 300 million registered users.
Overview
Discord is a voice, video, and text chat app that is free to use for anyone thirteen years old and older. Users create unique user IDs and sign onto the application. Inside the application, users can communicate with each other by building and joining servers, or communities. Any user can create a server, and different servers deal with different ideas and topics. For example, some servers are intended for players of specific video games. The user who creates the server chooses a name for it and makes decisions about what rules people have to follow and which users will be invited to join the server. Inside the server, the users create channels. Each server usually has multiple channels, and each channel will deal with a different topic and can have different rules. Users have created thousands of different Discord servers that deal with countless topics. The app is known for its simple design and high-tech features.
After a user makes a server, the user can invite other users to the server. The creator can also set up rules that apply to communication in the server. Some servers ban bullying, for example, but other servers require users to follow fewer rules. Server creators can also set up mods, or moderators, who can watch the content being shared to ensure it does not violate the server’s rules. Servers are invite-only spaces, but the creator of the server can remove users from it if they break the rules.
Users can also communicate with each other through direct messages. Users can change the settings on their profiles to limit who can direct message them. They can also block specific users at any time to stop receiving messages from those users. Users can also send each other friend requests, and they have options to limit who can send them requests. Users who no longer want to use their Discord accounts can also delete their accounts. Users are supposed to be thirteen years old or older, but preventing a child younger than thirteen from joining the service often proves difficult, if not impossible.
People signing up for Discord accounts do not have to provide their real names. They also do not have to share personal information with other users. They can connect their Discord profiles to accounts on other apps and platforms, such as YouTube, Twitch, and Spotify. Although most people use the free version of Discord, the company also offers Discord Nitro, which is a paid service that, among other things, gives users increased video and audio quality.
Discord states that it does not sell user data and does not share user data with third parties for advertising purposes, which is something that other social media platforms do. Discord has been known for allowing servers to determine what content should be allowed, though they do have rules against users advocating for violence or harm in the real world, advocating self-harm, and sharing sexually explicit content without user consent. Because all the content on Discord is created by users, the app has a great deal of explicit language, sexual content, bullying, racism, and crude jokes. Some experts believe that teenagers who use the platform should be monitored by their parents or guardians because they could be influenced or harmed by some of the content. Users can limit which other users they communicate with, though, so users of any age can use settings to prevent unwanted communications from others.
Bibliography
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