To add to the “they are different platforms” commentary…
In a big server, Discord is an informative, informal party. People chatter and talk over each other. Replies are rarely long. Conversations involve many people and happen across multiple channels at the same time.
It can be awkward to show up at a party, especially if you don’t know anyone and it’s your first time there. And it can be draining to hang out at a party, even if you’re engaged in something. Still, if you get into it, it can be a fun way to participate in a community and experience a subculture.
Plus, the chaos of a party leads to a lot of “collision space.” That’s the real value of Discord: serendipitously learning things you didn’t know you didn’t know, or having spontaneously valuable or entertaining exchanges with one another.
Discourse is a formal conference. Contributions tend to be more substantial. You aren’t typically allowed to have short replies. Off-topic comments are rare. Conversations are slow-paced. Folks start and “host” discussions about specific topics.
It’s easier to show up in a Discourse instance and figure out where to sit, who to listen to, and what to say. Because it’s slow-paced, it’s easier to dip in and out without losing connection with the culture. And because it’s typically browsable and searchable on the web, Discourse serves as a better repository for learning over time.
It’d be weird for someone to dislike Discourse because it’d be like disliking a formal conference about a topic you cared about. On the other hand, it’s easy to hate Discord in the same way that it’s easy to hate a party even if it’s filled with people you like.
This is an interesting thread in that this has been on my mind with the MacSparky Labs. I’m currently rolling out a Discord server for the labs and I’ve had a lot of feedback from members on it. I can tell you that a lot of people really dig Discord while for others it doesn’t really land. My experience has generally been in that second category but I’m curious how to use it effectively.
The other thing for those of us running Memberful-backed sites, setting up a Discord is stupid easy. You literally push a button. Memberful and Discord talk to each other to manage permissions and it really is simple to administer.
Discourse is not so easy and requires cash investment and a knowledgeable administrator. Stephen and I spend a significant amount of money keeping the lights on here.
Memberful has recently added a feature where members can like and comment on labs content. That is one thing I could do with Discourse, but Discourse could do a lot more. My intention with the labs, once the Discord gets running smoothly, is to investigate adding a separate Discourse forum.
So I guess this is the long way around for me to say that I think they scratch different itches.
They do. I’m not a fan of Discourd, though I do run a server. It is, btw, trivially easy to set one up without Memberful, too.
As much as I like Discourse as forum software, it is pricey. I’m a little o_O at the requirement that it have root access to install, or upgrade. That makes me not use it.
XenForo, while not as nice in some respects, is cheaper, easier to set up, and does not need Root. It might serve you well as a start.
Alternatively, you might, maybe, be able to set up a private subforum here for MacSparky?
I agree with you @Bmosbacker. It’s not to do with age, think it’s a quality of conversation issue.
Yes I could follow 1000 Twitter accounts and use the algorithm in the Twitter app, or I can follow 150 people and use Tweetbot and have full context over what I’m reading and where I left off last time.
With Discourse, I’m no wondering what I missed, I join back exactly where I left it and can catch up whenever I want.
Discord is for those who are retired at 21 years and just live on the internet 24x7.
Any sane professional can never keep up with the live conversation on any topic. It’s just chaos. Catching up on any topic is like finding a needle in a haystack.
I don’t like any synchronous chat systems. I begrudgingly use Teams at work but otherwise I find group chats on systems like Slack and Discord be complete time wasters. I have much better things to do with my time and attention. I also refuse to use WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for the same reason. I need to be able to focus on things that really matter, and I hate distractions - chat is the ultimate procrastination tool.
A hearty “amen”! I’m “mostly” with you on this. There is the rare occasion when I find chat useful (Zoom chat is NOT one of those!). An example is a 4:00am Messaging session with my SLT to decide whether or not to delay or call off school during bad weather. But otherwise, I find Slack, Discord, etc., to be distracting. Such systems perpetuate the notion that everyone should be available to instantly reply to a message, which is antithetical to getting quality work done.
@Bmosbacker Slack is better in certain ways. At least there are threaded replies and the message/context is not lost. You can go back and see all the conversations that happened around that topic. This comes with the assumption that all members are respectfully using threads and not crowding the main chat
Thanks, yes, I agree, Slack is better in this regard. I’ve used Slack to connect with the Craft developers and community and during the early stages of COVID I had my SLT on Slack but overall, we found email, phone calls, and the occasional group Message met our needs better–certainly cheaper!
Indeed, but at 4 am, a phone conversation with my SLT tends to wake up both my wife and my dog. At 4 am, my wife prefers that I text message. My dog, on the other hand, loves me being up early. She gets out of the crate sooner. If I wake my wife up, I end up in the crate.
