• MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    Until a viable alternative is presented, I doubt Discord will die anytime soon. Part of the problem is people have a hard time accepting that even if you make the best meal in town, you’ve gotta get people to step inside before they’ll try it. To an extent, this does involve winning a popularity contest of sorts if you want Discord to die.

    I think often times folks are torn between enjoying a space/app as is, and making compromises to attract a larger group. IMO Linux has the same issue and that’s part of why die hard fanboys get so aggressively defensive when this is brought up.

    It’s the software equivalent of being the bitter "nice guy" that simultaneously wants to attract a girlfriend (users) but is kind of an asshole to women. You might think you don’t stink but please wear deodorant.

    • Wave@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      There are viable alteratives, but they aren’t making money and can’t advertise. Signal is a prime example, its an amazing platform with feature parity + more to Discord. Regardless of how well a platform is polished, you need users. People will use the shittiest platform ever if it has users (Twitter and Reddit come to mind).

      • MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        Signal isn’t an alternative to Discord. I use both and they’re used very differently. Group movie watching for example is pretty easy on Discord.

        Digg had users and people jumped ship to Reddit because it was better.

        • Wave@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          You can screen share on signal so that argument makes absolutely no sense. and people down voting me without explaining why are probably too stubborn to switch away from discord.

          • MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml
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            4 months ago

            That’s a feature that was implemented what, 1 or 2 years ago when Signal’s been around for a decade?

            You can’t possibly expect people to just jump from one social app to another that has such a relatively small user base and little familiarity. Entire Discord servers would have to jump ship and it would just be a nightmare for most people.

            What Discord prioritizes, Signal treats as an afterthought. Things like group chat, video chat, GIF usage, etc, Signal has never really prioritized.

            Discord’s mobile and PC apps both allow users to select GIFs within the application, whereas only Signal’s mobile app allows users to select GIFs within the application and Signal’s desktop app doesn’t allow for in-app GIF selection. If you’re reading this thinking "who tf cares about stupid stuff like that?", you’re completely missing the point because regular ass users care about stuff like that and they totally will say “fuck that” to an alternative if it doesn’t have features like this. Why doesn’t Signal incorporate in-app GIF selection for its desktop app? I’m sure it will be eventually implemented but dragging their heels like this for popular features and then having the nerve to ask "why aren’t people flocking to us instead of Discord/WhatsApp" is such an out of touch question to ask.

            When open source developers ask for feedback from regular users and their response to said feedback is"ACKSHUALLY it’s your fault, not the application’s fault", as it often is, it’s no surprise that their software never gains traction. It’s like a guy who wears cargo pants to a formal affair and then gets into an argument over attire because in his mind, cargo pants = more pockets = superior, completely oblivious to every other factor.

            Another thing-- Signal requires your phone number, Discord doesn’t. I know right away folks are going to rage about how Discord is the real privacy nightmare, not Signal. I don’t disagree, but the average user is just going to be more wary about being forced to give up their phone number in order to use Signal, even if the software now allows them to hide it.

            • Wave@lemmy.ml
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              4 months ago

              Phone number point is stupid to bring up because most public discord servers turn on the setting that prevents you from speaking until you’ve verified a phone number, and I’d trust signal with my number over discord any day of the week. I never said general users should jump ship, I said that the reason they DONT is because other platform dont have the advertising budget, nor the user base to make users jump ship. People act like they give a shit about features but as soon as they can only talk to their friends because they all left for one platform, even if its “worse” because of the feature set, they WILL follow or be left out. Its why I originally joined Discord, I didn’t want to leave Skype but thats where everyone was going. I am now taking the other side where I refuse to use discord. I use Signal and Matrix. if people want to talk to me, they talk to me on there or not at all, and ykno what. Ive gotten 20+ people to switch.

              • MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml
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                4 months ago

                Discord doesn’t require a phone number to use it and there’s tons of servers that don’t require phone number verification. The vast majority of servers I’m in have no phone number requirement. Signal straight will not work without your phone number, in any capacity. I’m sure you’d trust Signal over Discord with your phone number any day of the week but as I said, that’s an irrelevant point because we’re talking about why people are more attracted to Discord over Signal. Slacks vs ugly cargo pants.

                I said that the reason they DONT is because other platform dont have the advertising budget, nor the user base to make users jump ship.

                Have you ever seen an ad for Discord? I haven’t see one before and I only know about it through word of mouth. There’s nothing stopping people from creating Signal groups for various hobbies and including a Signal link in their social media page.

                Refusing to use Discord might be noble from a privacy/security point of view but from a broader perspective, you’re significantly limiting your social interactions and not because of the people but the app the people are using to communicate with. It’s like not using a phone at all because pretty much any phone is a privacy/security issue.

                • Wave@lemmy.ml
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                  4 months ago

                  I use CalyxOS and keep airplane mode on when I’m not expecting any calls over the celluar network 🤷‍♂️ I suppose youre right that Ive never seen an ad for Discord, I also just haven’t seen ads in well over 5 years. I did assume they advertised so if Im wrong thats on me. I refuse to be a product and feel others should as well. If people want to sell themselves in exchange for a money-less service I suppose thats their own decision.

    • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      Yeah i also don’t think it’s dying hence the plea. But thing is, i don’t want alternative. I want this shit to die so i never want to see “join our discord” spammed absolutely everywhere when i want to get some info on anything.