This is my old account that I just logged in today. Just joined a server and Discord asked for email verification. Okay, that's not hard, thankfully Discord doesn't restrict email to only big providers. But then suddenly DIscord asked to verify by phone number, because "something is out of ordinary". What's out of ordinary from that??? Joining a server > Discord asks to verify > I verify.
I was losing my mind seeing people suggesting moving to Discord when Rexxit happened. Like WTF, it's even worse than Reddit. Non-indexable content, worse privacy, needing account just to access the said content, etc.
I really hate how services nowadays require your phone number just to use their service. Unfortunately most people just don't care of privacy, thanks to "I have nothing to hide" mindset.
That's what I'd love to do, but everyone and their grandma keeps making communities in Discord.
I simply don't understand how so many communities, especially the tech ones, are on Discord instead of Matrix.
Is Matrix that new? Or hard to use? Because I found it just as convenient as Discord without the laundry list of downsides.
God, I remember when Discord blew up and basically destroyed Teamspeak and Mumble overnight. I didnt think teamspeak was lacking ease of use, but I was wrong. It was really big on MMOs. Being able to go straight in your browser and type "discord.gg/guildname" without downloading anything got people who NEVER used voice chat on to servers. Everybody eventually downloaded the desktop version later, but many of those people would never download desktop IRC/teamspeak and remember an IP address.
Of course it also helped that it was free to host 24/7 with zero tech knowledge, so any moron could host without needing to pay for a server or leave their computer on for it to stay up. But even people who could host quickly moved to discord.
Now Discord owns basically everyone's gaming chat and can moderate your server whether you like it or not, compared to if you had a server on your computer nothing could take it down except actually getting the police on your ass.
They're going to start trying to really profit off it soon, and it's going to get a lot worse.
I'm really bummed IRC hasn't recovered since Discord took all the crowd.
I think the main reason people still prefer Discord over Matrix is the fact that everyone is on discord but very few people are on matrix (at least, non-tech people).
If your entire family uses Discord, your friends use Discord, your classmates use Discord, at some point you will have to use Discord too.
And if you're forced to use Discord, then why also have a Matrix account too? That's a bit redundant when you think about it
These are basically my sentiments, both towards Discord and Matrix. I have been seeing more and more matrix communities around the places I browse, which is definitely a good sign. Hopefully, the growth continues significantly. I am lucky in that I managed to get my friends to use Matrix, whether that be switching entirely or just using it alongside discord. So, i'm fortunate to be in a situation where I almost never have to open Discord, except in exceptionally rare circumstances.