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I hate that it seems every community seems to start on Discord nowadays. That being said, is this not just a huge gift for Discord to eat Reddit up? A huge port

I hate that it seems every community seems to start on Discord nowadays. That being said, is this not just a huge gift for Discord to eat Reddit up? A huge portion of Reddit users are millenial gamers and likely have Discord installed already. Speaking for myself, I have found it increasingly difficult to get questions answered or find useful discussion on Reddit. For seeking information on a niche topic, you can get much more helpful information in a Discord community dedicated to that topic than posting on Reddit and hoping your post is seen. For anything related to gaming/TTRPG communities, Discord is way better.

dingledork69 3y ago
Discord really should invest in making their "posts" feature web-searchable if the server opts in.
- 29083011397778 3y ago
  Why would Discord want to do that? I get why we, as people, want that; I do not get why Discord, as a company, would want their platform less sticky. "You have to have an account we can track before we let you get an answer" is all but a literal goal for them.
  - dymk 3y ago
    Because you don’t even know the discord server exists. So how is what they’re currently doing attracting the users searching for communities and answers?
    - andersrs 3y ago
      Yes we do because 1) this forces the discord server owners to promote their servers on the web. 2) You're more likely to bypass Google all together and just search for open communities on discords catalog. Google is dead now thanks to SEO anyway.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
grayfaced 3y ago
Discord could replace reddit for interactive feeds/discussion. But I don't think it could replace it as a repository of past discussions. It's quite common for me to add site:reddit.com on google searches. Also reddits use of threads/upvotes can trend discussion towards a general consensus. If I want a recommendation for something that consensus is useful (eg r/televisions weekly recommendations). Discord is kind of a crapshoot of whoever is active at the time. Am I missing something with discord? I'm a user but I generally don't engage in large communities. And there is so much "filler" discussion, that is hard to lurk.
- Capricorn2481 3y ago
  > Am I missing something with discord Not necessarily. But whenever I post on Reddit for a language or programming sub, I eventually get directed to slack because the reddit answers "won't be that good." Discord can fill that niche as well
- input_sh 3y ago
  Discord introduced forum channels some months ago: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/6208479917079-Forum-Channels-FAQ https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/6208479917079-... Creating new topics looks similarly to creating a StackOverflow question, where it will recommend an existing topic if it exists, meaning that the search is separate from the dumpster fire that is server-wide search. It also supports pinning posts on top, so weekly discussions like the one you've mentioned are a possibility. A couple of servers I'm a part of that have it enabled are much more usable than those that don't and use text channels, but that's not a particularly high bar. I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than reddit / GitHub discussions / Discourse. If they made them indexable by search engines and in some sort of read-only mode, it could make an impact.
  - worble 3y ago
    Ok, but how does that help me if I'm trying to google something and don't even know this discord server exists?
mathieuh 3y ago
I don't use Discord but does it even offer similar features? Last time I used it it just seemed like a nicer Skype, does it now offer posts in the same way reddit does or is it something tacked on?
- evandena 3y ago
  It’s more akin to Slack, with text channels and voice rooms.
- dotnet00 3y ago
  Yeah it has a forum system now, but it still kind of sucks since nothing gets indexed by a regular search engine and discord's search is kind of terrible.
- 12345hn6789 3y ago
  It doesn't no. No easily searchable information, can't be indexed to the web, and nearly impossible to find the proper server to even ask in.
ImAnAmateur 3y ago
Discord is king if you need information that is only available by word of mouth. I've found that even trying to search for things I know exist on a Discord server can be very hard to find. One example of this is how statements are split up like text messages. If someone explained something in text over five separate side-by-side posts, then searching for something that appears in two posts but never appears in one will not return the result you want.

dingledork69 3y ago

Discord really should invest in making their "posts" feature web-searchable if the server opts in.

29083011397778 3y ago
Why would Discord want to do that? I get why we, as people, want that; I do not get why Discord, as a company, would want their platform less sticky. "You have to have an account we can track before we let you get an answer" is all but a literal goal for them.
- dymk 3y ago
  Because you don’t even know the discord server exists. So how is what they’re currently doing attracting the users searching for communities and answers?
  - andersrs 3y ago
    Yes we do because 1) this forces the discord server owners to promote their servers on the web. 2) You're more likely to bypass Google all together and just search for open communities on discords catalog. Google is dead now thanks to SEO anyway.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

grayfaced 3y ago

Discord could replace reddit for interactive feeds/discussion. But I don't think it could replace it as a repository of past discussions. It's quite common for me to add site:reddit.com on google searches. Also reddits use of threads/upvotes can trend discussion towards a general consensus. If I want a recommendation for something that consensus is useful (eg r/televisions weekly recommendations). Discord is kind of a crapshoot of whoever is active at the time. Am I missing something with discord? I'm a user but I generally don't engage in large communities. And there is so much "filler" discussion, that is hard to lurk.

Capricorn2481 3y ago
> Am I missing something with discord Not necessarily. But whenever I post on Reddit for a language or programming sub, I eventually get directed to slack because the reddit answers "won't be that good." Discord can fill that niche as well
input_sh 3y ago
Discord introduced forum channels some months ago: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/6208479917079-Forum-Channels-FAQ https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/6208479917079-... Creating new topics looks similarly to creating a StackOverflow question, where it will recommend an existing topic if it exists, meaning that the search is separate from the dumpster fire that is server-wide search. It also supports pinning posts on top, so weekly discussions like the one you've mentioned are a possibility. A couple of servers I'm a part of that have it enabled are much more usable than those that don't and use text channels, but that's not a particularly high bar. I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than reddit / GitHub discussions / Discourse. If they made them indexable by search engines and in some sort of read-only mode, it could make an impact.
- worble 3y ago
  Ok, but how does that help me if I'm trying to google something and don't even know this discord server exists?

mathieuh 3y ago

I don't use Discord but does it even offer similar features? Last time I used it it just seemed like a nicer Skype, does it now offer posts in the same way reddit does or is it something tacked on?

evandena 3y ago
It’s more akin to Slack, with text channels and voice rooms.
dotnet00 3y ago
Yeah it has a forum system now, but it still kind of sucks since nothing gets indexed by a regular search engine and discord's search is kind of terrible.
12345hn6789 3y ago
It doesn't no. No easily searchable information, can't be indexed to the web, and nearly impossible to find the proper server to even ask in.

ImAnAmateur 3y ago

Discord is king if you need information that is only available by word of mouth. I've found that even trying to search for things I know exist on a Discord server can be very hard to find. One example of this is how statements are split up like text messages. If someone explained something in text over five separate side-by-side posts, then searching for something that appears in two posts but never appears in one will not return the result you want.