4 ms·

It's searchable if you've already found the Discord server and are in it. You won't find any of it if you're doing a web search.

loa_in_ 5y ago
You can search across unjoined servers from within Discord.
- hu3 5y ago
  That's neat. How do I proceed to do that?
  - loa_in_ 5y ago
    Scroll all the way down on your server list and the final entry is "Discover"
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- joconde 5y ago
  It's still out of reach of traditional search engines like Google, right? Stack Overflow and other forums have the huge advantage of being indexable by outside services.
- hachari 5y ago
  Really? I’ve never found a good single source for discovering servers, only ever find expired links buried on old posts online
  - loa_in_ 5y ago
    Yes. Scroll all the way down on your server list and the final entry is "Discover"
amelius 5y ago
This sounds like something Google would want to fix ASAP. Are they talking to Discord about the issue?
- elliekelly 5y ago
  I hope not. I can’t think of anything that would make me leave Discord faster.
- lghh 5y ago
  But then you run into the problem of having one username across Discord "servers". I don't want what I say on servers with my friends to be easily cross-searchable from what I say on a "server" for some software development library.
  - meheleventyone 5y ago
    You can set your username and avatar per server and people can only see your mutual communities AFAIK.
    - formerly_proven 5y ago
      Discord accounts have hidden (until someone uses a bunch of hacking tools known as "dev tools") IDs which uniquely identify an account and never change. The username#1234 stuff is pure fluff. The per-server thing is also just an alias on the server, it still shows the foo#1234 name if you click on a profile.
  - ziml77 5y ago
    I've thought before about how Discord could deal with this. Ideally we would be able to set up aliases, and when joining a server get to select which alias is used. They would have to look externally in every way like they were distinct accounts including when friending or DMing people. Alternatively, in the UI they could let you sign in to multiple accounts and then provide another layer of tabs to let you switch between those. That would help keep things organized but also can make navigation more difficult by adding another level to the navigation tree.
loxias 5y ago
Sounds like it's time to write a Discord crawler...
- slightwinder 5y ago
  That won't work. Discord is pretty eager in protecting their data. They even kill legit bot-abilities to prevent people from harming their space. But to be fair, discord-space is also very toxic and borderline in some content, with phising and other attacks are being quite common. So it's justified that they protect their customers. I guess if a big name like Google would ask them and ensures that privacy is preserved, they might cooperate to some degree.
  - benatkin 5y ago
    Search engines are a big deal, so much so that I could see crawling with a browser extension or browser automation. However, Discord also discourages use of the web app. How about if when the app's data is fully locked down, people start recording their screens and OCRing them? Incentivize it somehow. That way at least content that the participating users viewed would be indexed. Then you get back to trying to block people from recording their own screen with software, and after that hardware[1]. Never ending cat and mouse game. 1: https://pallycon.com/blog/choose-your-weapon-to-fight-screen-recording-piracy/ https://pallycon.com/blog/choose-your-weapon-to-fight-screen... (see "Screen recording using camera")
    - slightwinder 5y ago
      Of course, will it be always possible to catch data some way. But it's a difference whether you actively work against the company and must invest money and time into it, or not. And outside the technical level, discord also has the legal way. They can try to shut down your service, remove your code from public space and make you sink more time and money in an uphill-battle. This is the same battle people are fighting against all walled gardens. And so far the gardens usually win. So someone taking on that fight, should be aware of this.

loa_in_ 5y ago

You can search across unjoined servers from within Discord.

hu3 5y ago
That's neat. How do I proceed to do that?
- loa_in_ 5y ago
  Scroll all the way down on your server list and the final entry is "Discover"
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
joconde 5y ago
It's still out of reach of traditional search engines like Google, right? Stack Overflow and other forums have the huge advantage of being indexable by outside services.
hachari 5y ago
Really? I’ve never found a good single source for discovering servers, only ever find expired links buried on old posts online
- loa_in_ 5y ago
  Yes. Scroll all the way down on your server list and the final entry is "Discover"

amelius 5y ago

This sounds like something Google would want to fix ASAP. Are they talking to Discord about the issue?

elliekelly 5y ago
I hope not. I can’t think of anything that would make me leave Discord faster.
lghh 5y ago
But then you run into the problem of having one username across Discord "servers". I don't want what I say on servers with my friends to be easily cross-searchable from what I say on a "server" for some software development library.
- meheleventyone 5y ago
  You can set your username and avatar per server and people can only see your mutual communities AFAIK.
  - formerly_proven 5y ago
    Discord accounts have hidden (until someone uses a bunch of hacking tools known as "dev tools") IDs which uniquely identify an account and never change. The username#1234 stuff is pure fluff. The per-server thing is also just an alias on the server, it still shows the foo#1234 name if you click on a profile.
- ziml77 5y ago
  I've thought before about how Discord could deal with this. Ideally we would be able to set up aliases, and when joining a server get to select which alias is used. They would have to look externally in every way like they were distinct accounts including when friending or DMing people. Alternatively, in the UI they could let you sign in to multiple accounts and then provide another layer of tabs to let you switch between those. That would help keep things organized but also can make navigation more difficult by adding another level to the navigation tree.

loxias 5y ago

Sounds like it's time to write a Discord crawler...

slightwinder 5y ago
That won't work. Discord is pretty eager in protecting their data. They even kill legit bot-abilities to prevent people from harming their space. But to be fair, discord-space is also very toxic and borderline in some content, with phising and other attacks are being quite common. So it's justified that they protect their customers. I guess if a big name like Google would ask them and ensures that privacy is preserved, they might cooperate to some degree.
- benatkin 5y ago
  Search engines are a big deal, so much so that I could see crawling with a browser extension or browser automation. However, Discord also discourages use of the web app. How about if when the app's data is fully locked down, people start recording their screens and OCRing them? Incentivize it somehow. That way at least content that the participating users viewed would be indexed. Then you get back to trying to block people from recording their own screen with software, and after that hardware[1]. Never ending cat and mouse game. 1: https://pallycon.com/blog/choose-your-weapon-to-fight-screen-recording-piracy/ https://pallycon.com/blog/choose-your-weapon-to-fight-screen... (see "Screen recording using camera")
  - slightwinder 5y ago
    Of course, will it be always possible to catch data some way. But it's a difference whether you actively work against the company and must invest money and time into it, or not. And outside the technical level, discord also has the legal way. They can try to shut down your service, remove your code from public space and make you sink more time and money in an uphill-battle. This is the same battle people are fighting against all walled gardens. And so far the gardens usually win. So someone taking on that fight, should be aware of this.