Chit-Chat: DCC: A new chapter

[Megan]

I never experienced the IRC era. When I got access to the internet the main ones were ICQ, MSN, Skype and TeamSpeak. I also remember waiting for the first Linux version of Discord. That took quite a while.

All things considered it's impressive how long Discord managed to stay relevant. Now, unfortunately, if there's one thing I've learnt over the years: I'm not a fan of live chats. I like the slower pace that a regular forum provides. ^^"

 

[Zeostar]

I never experienced the IRC era. When I got access to the internet the main ones were ICQ, MSN, Skype and TeamSpeak. I also remember waiting for the first Linux version of Discord. That took quite a while.

All things considered it's impressive how long Discord managed to stay relevant. Now, unfortunately, if there's one thing I've learnt over the years: I'm not a fan of live chats. I like the slower pace that a regular forum provides. ^^"

Discord has been in talks to be a public traded company. We'll see how that goes but it usually means going off the wall with advertisements and restrictions on free tier.

Something will replace it or it'll be too big to fall.

Seems to be the life cycle of these apps.

 

[Astinus]

-snip-

This is how I feel a lot about the move from forums to Discord. As someone that struggled with social anxiety, the idea of just bursting in to the middle of a conversation full of people that I may or may not know just feels weird. Like I'm falling down from the ceiling and landing on the lunch table of a crowd in a restaurant. And just expecting them to want me to be a part of the conversation.*

And yes, forums are slower. But they're easier for people to get to know one another for a variety of reasons. There can be various conversations happening on different topics at the same time that people can join whenever. The index of this section shows that. Anyone can pop in and talk about their favorite chip flavor, or water-drinking habit, or their eyesight at any time. The conversation on Discord will move on from one subject to the next, and it's not clear if it's "okay" to bring back an old topic or not when everyone else has moved on. And forums are easier to handle when people just might not have the mental spoons to socialize on that particular day, but they can come back later.

I do know that a lot of other people are missing that sense of community that there was in the old days of the Internet. On other sites that I'm on, there's often the question of "how do I make friends online?" The answer is always Discord, but again, the whole idea of interrupting a conversation full of strangers. And finding the "right" server, in the sense of where one can fit in. Like forums. Not all Pokemon forums have the same vibe, but it's easier to get a handle on that than it is a Discord server because forums are more of an archive.

And forums are better for those like me that tend to write too much.

*(Online I still have anxiety about joining conversations. In meat space, I'll roll right in and talk to anyone.)

 

[PoryKid575]

(Online I still have anxiety about joining conversations. In meat space, I'll roll right in and talk to anyone.)

I'm pretty similar, IRL I don't have significant problems joining conversations, but I always feel super nervous about bothering people, or being boring, or breaking some unspoken rule when I try joining a crowded Discord chat.