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Three months from now: Discord raises 500 million dollars to make the next generation social media company. Also this is a terrible decision IMO. The discrimi

Three months from now: Discord raises 500 million dollars to make the next generation social media company. Also this is a terrible decision IMO. The discriminator allows people to have their own name of choice. If people aren’t accepting friend requests have they ever thought that maybe.. nor everyone responds to friend requests? I just checked my discord and I’ve got 82 friend requests. I don’t add anyone except people I actually want to.

tomatotomato37 4y ago
Three months from now: Discord raises 500 million dollars to make the next generation social media company. Wonder if that would be before or after a misguided attempt to purge NSFW content
- prepend 4y ago
  Which is especially funny for discord as they are private servers. I don’t want discord checking what I’m saying in my own server with my own friends.
  - Fnoord 4y ago
    > Which is especially funny for discord as they are private servers. Not my definition of private. > I don’t want discord checking what I’m saying in my own server with my own friends. Then use E2E encryption.
    - Technetium 3y ago
      > Then use E2E encryption Great idea, except for the part that modifying the client is a bannable offense itself, and you can get banned as a spammer for using it too often. Nevertheless, it's possible: https://github.com/leogx9r/DiscordCrypt https://github.com/leogx9r/DiscordCrypt // https://github.com/An00nymushun/End-to-end-Discord-Encryption https://github.com/An00nymushun/End-to-end-Discord-Encryptio...
  - dceddia 4y ago
    It always seemed a little weird to me that Discord decided to call them “servers” and let people believe things like this (that it’s yours, that it’s truly private even from the company’s eyes) when it’s really more akin to an invite-only Facebook group. It’s hosted by them, so they can shut them down if they wanted, and I’d have very little trust that they can’t see the messages inside.
    - pram 4y ago
      They’re (were) called guilds, not servers, in the API fwiw
      - Macha 4y ago
        I believe this is an artifact of the discord founders previous project, guildworks, which let ffxiv guilds text chat with players out of game as one feature later on its life
    - prepend 4y ago
      I understand about it’s their resources. What I mean is that it’s a private, closed group that’s invite only. They have no need to moderate content as if someone doesn’t like it, they leave. This is different from public networks where content spreads broadly and is seen broadly. I wouldn’t expect, nor want discord to know if my material is nsfw or not. If they imposed any restriction it would make me less likely to use them. I noticed through using bark, an app used to monitor and protect kids device usage, that discord doesn’t provide any api user access to content and the only way to see material is through their app.
      - CapstanRoller 4y ago
        The implication is that Discord can surveil you (or help a government surveil you), not that your chats will be leaked to the world directly. Discord "servers" are just instances of Discord on Discord Inc's cloud. Discord never claims that they are private in the sense of 'sovereign', only that you can moderate them yourself. Discord openly states in the TOS that their "Trust and Safety" team can see literally everything you do (channel messages, DMs, attachments, etc) at any time.
  - jacooper 4y ago
    Discord has worse privacy then Facebook. Use something better, like matrix.
    - beebeepka 4y ago
      In what way is it worse than FB? Everything is recorded and stored forever. One is beholden to the French authorities, the other serves the US. I say, build your own chat system. It's not that hard.
      - jacooper 4y ago
        French? Discord is an american company Also matrix is e2e encrypted. Look at data collected section, they basically collect everything, nothing is deleted. https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/discord/ https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/discord...
        beebeepka 4y ago
        Don't know why I thought it was French. Can't find anything about where they are on Wikipedia. As for the link, are you talking about the "app" or the web version? Of course the "app" is collecting anything that it can. Don't install it.
        jacooper 4y ago
        This is for discord in general
        beebeepka 4y ago
        Maybe I am reading it wrong but as far as I can see, the creepy stuff is confined to the app. Feel free to correct me again, though
    - gsich 4y ago
      Has crappy or non-existant voice support. Use Mumble for that.
  - concordDance 4y ago
    But you might be misgendering people or saying offensive things about protected minorities in there! And that's bad and needs to be stopped. (I'm somewhat upset the UK has done this, with actual charges for hate speech communication on private whatsapp groups)
  - herbst 4y ago
    Then better don't use it because that is exactly what is happening.
Hamuko 4y ago
I actually wondered at one point if Discord would adapt some kind of Twitter-like status updates after the whole Musk shitshow. It felt like they were in the best position to launch a new microblogging solution.
- Macha 4y ago
  There was a few years ago where everyone was adding "stories" when unwanted, like Whatsapp etc. I'd hope not, but I wouldn't put it past them (after all they did "stages" to copy clubhouse and made it very prominent for a few months until it turned out clubhouse was all noise and no staying power)
recursivecaveat 4y ago
The whole friend request thing baffles me. The old system was quite good in this respect: if someone has display name bob, full username bob#1234, when you mistakenly enter bob in the friend request field you'll get an error. Now bob is a totally valid username, and you can't disambiguate. The new system seems much more prone to more serious mistakes and impersonation. I would rather 100X go "whoops, need to add the discriminator" than once accidentally send something to a stranger meant for a friend.
- Operyl 4y ago
  The big problem was case sensitivity in my opinion. It should have been case insensitive with discriminators. The current system means bob#1234 is a different user from Bob#1234.
  - fafzv 4y ago
    It's even worse that if you try to add bob#1234 and he doesn't exist because it's Bob the error message you get doesn't remind you usernames are case sensitive.
- cdash 4y ago
  None of this should be an issue anyway, no one has any trouble linking discord server invites. Add the ability to easily link your user profile. Or even better, friend invites. Discord already has single use invites for servers. I doubt this change has anything to do with friend invites, they want to start adding features of other social media networks instead of just being a chat platform.
eqvinox 4y ago
> The discriminator allows people to have their own name of choice. Indeed I always considered this a major bonus point for discord. Sigh.
Macha 4y ago
Discord's already VC funded, which has always made me a bit leery, but they seemed to have a profitable business model with nitro subs.

tomatotomato37 4y ago

Three months from now: Discord raises 500 million dollars to make the next generation social media company. Wonder if that would be before or after a misguided attempt to purge NSFW content

prepend 4y ago
Which is especially funny for discord as they are private servers. I don’t want discord checking what I’m saying in my own server with my own friends.
- Fnoord 4y ago
  > Which is especially funny for discord as they are private servers. Not my definition of private. > I don’t want discord checking what I’m saying in my own server with my own friends. Then use E2E encryption.
  - Technetium 3y ago
    > Then use E2E encryption Great idea, except for the part that modifying the client is a bannable offense itself, and you can get banned as a spammer for using it too often. Nevertheless, it's possible: https://github.com/leogx9r/DiscordCrypt https://github.com/leogx9r/DiscordCrypt // https://github.com/An00nymushun/End-to-end-Discord-Encryption https://github.com/An00nymushun/End-to-end-Discord-Encryptio...
- dceddia 4y ago
  It always seemed a little weird to me that Discord decided to call them “servers” and let people believe things like this (that it’s yours, that it’s truly private even from the company’s eyes) when it’s really more akin to an invite-only Facebook group. It’s hosted by them, so they can shut them down if they wanted, and I’d have very little trust that they can’t see the messages inside.
  - pram 4y ago
    They’re (were) called guilds, not servers, in the API fwiw
    - Macha 4y ago
      I believe this is an artifact of the discord founders previous project, guildworks, which let ffxiv guilds text chat with players out of game as one feature later on its life
  - prepend 4y ago
    I understand about it’s their resources. What I mean is that it’s a private, closed group that’s invite only. They have no need to moderate content as if someone doesn’t like it, they leave. This is different from public networks where content spreads broadly and is seen broadly. I wouldn’t expect, nor want discord to know if my material is nsfw or not. If they imposed any restriction it would make me less likely to use them. I noticed through using bark, an app used to monitor and protect kids device usage, that discord doesn’t provide any api user access to content and the only way to see material is through their app.
    - CapstanRoller 4y ago
      The implication is that Discord can surveil you (or help a government surveil you), not that your chats will be leaked to the world directly. Discord "servers" are just instances of Discord on Discord Inc's cloud. Discord never claims that they are private in the sense of 'sovereign', only that you can moderate them yourself. Discord openly states in the TOS that their "Trust and Safety" team can see literally everything you do (channel messages, DMs, attachments, etc) at any time.
- jacooper 4y ago
  Discord has worse privacy then Facebook. Use something better, like matrix.
  - beebeepka 4y ago
    In what way is it worse than FB? Everything is recorded and stored forever. One is beholden to the French authorities, the other serves the US. I say, build your own chat system. It's not that hard.
    - jacooper 4y ago
      French? Discord is an american company Also matrix is e2e encrypted. Look at data collected section, they basically collect everything, nothing is deleted. https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/discord/ https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/discord...
      - beebeepka 4y ago
        Don't know why I thought it was French. Can't find anything about where they are on Wikipedia. As for the link, are you talking about the "app" or the web version? Of course the "app" is collecting anything that it can. Don't install it.
        jacooper 4y ago
        This is for discord in general
        beebeepka 4y ago
        Maybe I am reading it wrong but as far as I can see, the creepy stuff is confined to the app. Feel free to correct me again, though
  - gsich 4y ago
    Has crappy or non-existant voice support. Use Mumble for that.
- concordDance 4y ago
  But you might be misgendering people or saying offensive things about protected minorities in there! And that's bad and needs to be stopped. (I'm somewhat upset the UK has done this, with actual charges for hate speech communication on private whatsapp groups)
- herbst 4y ago
  Then better don't use it because that is exactly what is happening.

Hamuko 4y ago

I actually wondered at one point if Discord would adapt some kind of Twitter-like status updates after the whole Musk shitshow. It felt like they were in the best position to launch a new microblogging solution.

Macha 4y ago
There was a few years ago where everyone was adding "stories" when unwanted, like Whatsapp etc. I'd hope not, but I wouldn't put it past them (after all they did "stages" to copy clubhouse and made it very prominent for a few months until it turned out clubhouse was all noise and no staying power)

recursivecaveat 4y ago

The whole friend request thing baffles me. The old system was quite good in this respect: if someone has display name bob, full username bob#1234, when you mistakenly enter bob in the friend request field you'll get an error. Now bob is a totally valid username, and you can't disambiguate. The new system seems much more prone to more serious mistakes and impersonation. I would rather 100X go "whoops, need to add the discriminator" than once accidentally send something to a stranger meant for a friend.

Operyl 4y ago
The big problem was case sensitivity in my opinion. It should have been case insensitive with discriminators. The current system means bob#1234 is a different user from Bob#1234.
- fafzv 4y ago
  It's even worse that if you try to add bob#1234 and he doesn't exist because it's Bob the error message you get doesn't remind you usernames are case sensitive.
cdash 4y ago
None of this should be an issue anyway, no one has any trouble linking discord server invites. Add the ability to easily link your user profile. Or even better, friend invites. Discord already has single use invites for servers. I doubt this change has anything to do with friend invites, they want to start adding features of other social media networks instead of just being a chat platform.

eqvinox 4y ago

> The discriminator allows people to have their own name of choice. Indeed I always considered this a major bonus point for discord. Sigh.

Macha 4y ago

Discord's already VC funded, which has always made me a bit leery, but they seemed to have a profitable business model with nitro subs.