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> boxxy is a part of the amyware discord server. Can we reverse this trend? I've recently started to see an FAQ, on GitHub, hide the answer with a deeplink int

by _cenw 2y ago

> boxxy is a part of the amyware discord server. Can we reverse this trend? I've recently started to see an FAQ, on GitHub, hide the answer with a deeplink into Discord channels where you needed to find the guild to join first. I've never gotten disinterested in a project that fast. This needs to stop.

Kiro 2y ago
I disagree. The only time I'm actively engaging with a project is if it has a Discord server. I don't want to post questions in a public forum.
- freedomben 2y ago
  > I don't want to post questions in a public forum. Why?
  - ThatMedicIsASpy 2y ago
    Because they are a discord user. And don't have a forum account. In todays world forums can also be a pain as looking at picture attachments most of the time require accounts.
stavros 2y ago
Especially Discord "forums", the black hole of the internet. Neither real-time so I can get my question answered when I'm there, nor open enough to find old questions through Google, nor popular enough that people browse through them to answer. People go "oh, Discord has forums, we don't need a web forum", and the world is now a little bit worse.
- Y_Y 2y ago
  Maybe there's value in (semi-)automated discord exfiltration. Like A browser plugin that grabs all the data from any discord pages I look at and mirrors it somewhere on the open web.
  - stavros 2y ago
    There probably is, but instead of making something that breaks Discord's TOS while simultaneously increasing their popularity (because of this useful tool), I'd rather let projects realize that a web forum is better.
    - Fnoord 2y ago
      I agree but which alternative exists which is free which also provides voice chat option? On the other hand, many Discord servers never even use the voice chat option. I think Discord is more of an alternative to IRC than to forums. Maybe it does both good enough?
      - stavros 2y ago
        It definitely doesn't do forums well enough, and I've never been on a forum and thought "I wish there were a voice chat option here". Discord is OK for real-time chat (though I'd still like something more open), but asynchronous forum chats should be left to web forum software.
      - prmoustache 2y ago
        Matrix supports voice and video integration out of the box, as does Zulip. I think voice chat is very popular with gaming discord users, not so much with software projects anyway. In any case, it is so simple to just send a link to an open jitsi instance on any platform that it isn't that big of a deal if you do that once every full moon.
        _cenw 2y ago
        Unable to decrypt: The sender's device has not sent us the keys for this message. It's very unfortunate that the entire Matrix ecosystem seems to be funded by people who want to build private branded messaging systems for enterprise and government and other users aren't the target audience anymore.
        2y ago
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
lupusreal 2y ago
I think discord serves a functional quite like email mailing lists, but with a twist. Email mailing lists, by their nature, gatekeep and filter out younger or less technical people, while discord by its nature is doing the same but inverted. It filters the sort of people that would be far more comfortable with mailing lists.
- tourmalinetaco 2y ago
  This is it exactly. Discord is, inherently, where quick gratification prospers. Immediate memetic responses followed by swapping to the next server for the next high.
- _cenw 2y ago
  It's okay-ish for when you need to ask questions. But we're trending towards gating binaries and general documentation there too. Discord must be aware that their secret ingredient is that people are "admins" over others, and that people actually quite like being in power and having a different colored name. And all that without the technical barrier of having to setup forums or Teamspeak (not that such gatekeeping kept terrible people from being admins)
- Gormo 2y ago
  That sounds awful. You want a venue where younger and less technical people can get help and guidance from the more experienced people, not an echo chamber full of the least experienced users.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    Well, I think discord appeals more to the young or less technical, in other words young and technical people, like the developers of many new projects, seem to like it. It's a model of software collaboration for their generation which their parents neither get nor appreciate, and I think that is part of the appeal to them.
    - _cenw 2y ago
      I dislike Discord for the same reason I disliked some IRC networks. There's a lot young people on a powertrip and generally very clique-y behavior. But at least IRC wasn't also run by a huge uncaring tech company known to completely ignore the GDPR (or interpret it in asinine ways) that will eventually run out of VC money and disappear.
herculity275 2y ago
Is there a reason why projects opt for a Discord server rather than setting up a subreddit? Is it simply because Discord is easier to moderate?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- arbitrage 2y ago
  Reddit attracts a lot of trolls. Managing the reddit takes work (moderation, keeping up with stupid reddit drama). With a project discord, you're filtering out people immediately -- typically only people who want to be there wind up there. It makes things easier for a lot of people this way.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
    > With a project discord, you're filtering out people immediately -- typically only people who want to be there wind up there. It makes things easier for a lot of people this way. Well. Yes. You filter out a lot of people, including legitimate users who would be interested but aren't going to deal with Discord. I'm not convinced that's actually a win.
- Gormo 2y ago
  Anything would be better. A subreddit, a traditional web forum, a mailing list, an NNTP group, an IRC channel -- I'd take any of them over Discord.
- NegativeK 2y ago
  To pile on, from what I've seen, Reddit is shit for a community of people getting to know each other. Posts aging out mean that discussions fade from view. That means that they die off, as other people don't join in. Combine that with karma, and you get people tending to just contribute content that is counter to community building. I've seen some similar stuff happen on Discord servers (I'm looking at you, Discord servers with 50 topic channels), but I've also seen people slowly get to know each other better there. Or, to summarize: I generally see Reddit as better for discoverability and Discord as better for community. But they're both inadequate as a whole.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

by _cenw 2y ago

Kiro 2y ago

I disagree. The only time I'm actively engaging with a project is if it has a Discord server. I don't want to post questions in a public forum.

freedomben 2y ago
> I don't want to post questions in a public forum. Why?
- ThatMedicIsASpy 2y ago
  Because they are a discord user. And don't have a forum account. In todays world forums can also be a pain as looking at picture attachments most of the time require accounts.

stavros 2y ago

Especially Discord "forums", the black hole of the internet. Neither real-time so I can get my question answered when I'm there, nor open enough to find old questions through Google, nor popular enough that people browse through them to answer. People go "oh, Discord has forums, we don't need a web forum", and the world is now a little bit worse.

Y_Y 2y ago
Maybe there's value in (semi-)automated discord exfiltration. Like A browser plugin that grabs all the data from any discord pages I look at and mirrors it somewhere on the open web.
- stavros 2y ago
  There probably is, but instead of making something that breaks Discord's TOS while simultaneously increasing their popularity (because of this useful tool), I'd rather let projects realize that a web forum is better.
  - Fnoord 2y ago
    I agree but which alternative exists which is free which also provides voice chat option? On the other hand, many Discord servers never even use the voice chat option. I think Discord is more of an alternative to IRC than to forums. Maybe it does both good enough?
    - stavros 2y ago
      It definitely doesn't do forums well enough, and I've never been on a forum and thought "I wish there were a voice chat option here". Discord is OK for real-time chat (though I'd still like something more open), but asynchronous forum chats should be left to web forum software.
    - prmoustache 2y ago
      Matrix supports voice and video integration out of the box, as does Zulip. I think voice chat is very popular with gaming discord users, not so much with software projects anyway. In any case, it is so simple to just send a link to an open jitsi instance on any platform that it isn't that big of a deal if you do that once every full moon.
      - _cenw 2y ago
        Unable to decrypt: The sender's device has not sent us the keys for this message. It's very unfortunate that the entire Matrix ecosystem seems to be funded by people who want to build private branded messaging systems for enterprise and government and other users aren't the target audience anymore.
        2y ago
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

lupusreal 2y ago

I think discord serves a functional quite like email mailing lists, but with a twist. Email mailing lists, by their nature, gatekeep and filter out younger or less technical people, while discord by its nature is doing the same but inverted. It filters the sort of people that would be far more comfortable with mailing lists.

tourmalinetaco 2y ago
This is it exactly. Discord is, inherently, where quick gratification prospers. Immediate memetic responses followed by swapping to the next server for the next high.
_cenw 2y ago
It's okay-ish for when you need to ask questions. But we're trending towards gating binaries and general documentation there too. Discord must be aware that their secret ingredient is that people are "admins" over others, and that people actually quite like being in power and having a different colored name. And all that without the technical barrier of having to setup forums or Teamspeak (not that such gatekeeping kept terrible people from being admins)
Gormo 2y ago
That sounds awful. You want a venue where younger and less technical people can get help and guidance from the more experienced people, not an echo chamber full of the least experienced users.
- lupusreal 2y ago
  Well, I think discord appeals more to the young or less technical, in other words young and technical people, like the developers of many new projects, seem to like it. It's a model of software collaboration for their generation which their parents neither get nor appreciate, and I think that is part of the appeal to them.
  - _cenw 2y ago
    I dislike Discord for the same reason I disliked some IRC networks. There's a lot young people on a powertrip and generally very clique-y behavior. But at least IRC wasn't also run by a huge uncaring tech company known to completely ignore the GDPR (or interpret it in asinine ways) that will eventually run out of VC money and disappear.

herculity275 2y ago

Is there a reason why projects opt for a Discord server rather than setting up a subreddit? Is it simply because Discord is easier to moderate?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
arbitrage 2y ago
Reddit attracts a lot of trolls. Managing the reddit takes work (moderation, keeping up with stupid reddit drama). With a project discord, you're filtering out people immediately -- typically only people who want to be there wind up there. It makes things easier for a lot of people this way.
- yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
  > With a project discord, you're filtering out people immediately -- typically only people who want to be there wind up there. It makes things easier for a lot of people this way. Well. Yes. You filter out a lot of people, including legitimate users who would be interested but aren't going to deal with Discord. I'm not convinced that's actually a win.
Gormo 2y ago
Anything would be better. A subreddit, a traditional web forum, a mailing list, an NNTP group, an IRC channel -- I'd take any of them over Discord.
NegativeK 2y ago
To pile on, from what I've seen, Reddit is shit for a community of people getting to know each other. Posts aging out mean that discussions fade from view. That means that they die off, as other people don't join in. Combine that with karma, and you get people tending to just contribute content that is counter to community building. I've seen some similar stuff happen on Discord servers (I'm looking at you, Discord servers with 50 topic channels), but I've also seen people slowly get to know each other better there. Or, to summarize: I generally see Reddit as better for discoverability and Discord as better for community. But they're both inadequate as a whole.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]