It’s been of recent note that an online community is a valid thing to exist and be created. The world has gone through its trials as of late, with recent banishments to home with the COVID pandemic. It led to convenience and a rise in technology, as well as an interest in the digital world.
Born from this interest, platforms such as Discord have been gaining traction. Originating from the yesteryear of 2015, it started as a tool for gamers to create a private space for their friends to play together, or as a tool to find other like-minded people to create public communities. Never intended as a replacement for social media, it was instead created to fill a need that traditional social media could not.
Eventually, its uses expanded beyond simple text platforming. Gaming communities used them for more and more applications and it saw explosive popularity last year, culminating in the independent app partnering with big names in the industry.
It started as a simple solution to a problem, and is now much more; exploring the facets of the gaming community was the beginning, as businesses started seeing the potential behind the technology.
As the pandemic rolled in, bearing all the ill news of a stormfront, businesses scrambled to deal with the remote-restrictions and myriad problems that came with a change in labor and audience.
As part of the efforts to keep up, Discord was on the list of experimental strategies in an effort to reach consumer bases.
Business Potential
Discord is a free, intuitive platform. There is a premium subscription by way of Discord Nitro that allows for extra personalization, but the free version doesn’t leave out anything. For these reasons alone, enterprising entrepreneurs are beginning to adopt their own ways of marketing and leveraging the platform as part of their marketing strategy, due to the benefits :
For reasons such as this, a number of industries based in tech choose to market on this platform instead. The crypto industry could be considered a pioneer in this regard, tapping into their market of knowledgeable consumers and capitalizing strongly on their marketing.
In this way, you can see the mercantile-applications of this platform, having supportive characteristics to business and a conducive atmosphere with its ability to personalize communication.
Yet, the applications are not limited to the fiscal.
A Budding Facet of Society
Most users on Discord got their start in the same way - looking for an ideal platform to create private or public communities, based on their interests. It can also be said to have evolved the same way, and now Discord servers are considered as varied and different as the people that created them.
Ranging from movie buffs to school classes, embraced by streamers and podcasters, YouTube personalities, fantasy football leagues. The basic structure of a Discord channel (with moderators and roles) resembles rudimentary social units - like the ones you would find in simpler social gatherings. In some ways, it’s becoming a microcosm of society and human interest.
This manner of technology implies interesting viewpoints for the future. Consider the reasons that Discord was popularized and was created - an effort to create community and (with help from the pandemic) replacing traditional community. Discord themselves realized this, and with a rebrand, positioned themselves as “Your Place To Talk”, capitalizing on the aspects so prized by its users.
You could now come home after a long day of work and stream a movie on Discord with your friends to unwind. Not too different from going to a cinema with your friends in the physical world.
Considering the other technologies that are finding popularity, such as VR, AR, and the Metaverse, there are many possibilities to behold in the future.
Remarkable things have been achieved with this platform. Somehow striking a balance between the rigidity of a Zoom call/Google Meet invitation and a simple FaceTime or video chat, the Discord system has captured a niche all its own, and expanded to fulfill purposes far beyond its original scope.
Consider its applications. Being a viable platform for community allows it to mimic society and provide that experience to its users, while also having implementations purely monetary, serving as an added channel for marketers and brands, looking to capitalize on a portion of users outside of social media.
Representing a human ecosystem is something the Discord brand has achieved both with its technology, and its state of mind in its users. It begs the question of what other harmonies can be achieved between a brand and its applications - what other technologies can be fulfilled beyond their initial scope.