I guess I’m in the minority on this but… feature wise, I think it’s fantastic. It’s got nearly everything I could ask for, and I love how easy it is to stream and watch videos with groups of people. I often steam Seinfeld and other TV shows/movies in a leftist Discord community that I’m in and it’s just so nice to be able to do it so easily, without having to walk non tech-savvy users through lengthy troubleshooting in order for things to work. Pretty much any issue I’ve encountered when it comes to streaming/watching content was resolved within a few minutes of Googling.
Privacy wise, I wish there was an open-source alternative to Discord that a) has the same features and b) is user-friendly enough to actually shift Discord users to it. Unfortunately, pitching open-source alternatives to Discord is very difficult because they just aren’t as easy for most users to use and because it’s pretty hard to shift a large amount of users from one program they’re very familiar with to one that they’re not familiar with.
I think tech-savvy people are generally more inclined to shift to open-source software, particularly in the early stages, because they’re not nearly as bothered by the tinkering/troubleshooting involved. I think it’s similar to why so few people use Linux compared to Windows. But what a lot of tech savvy people just can’t wrap their heads around is the simple fact that for the overwhelming majority of users, they don’t have the time/patience/interest to switch to new alternatives to programs/systems they’ve been using for years and are comfortable using. It’s like pitching a jacket that is superior in terms of heat retention, but most people just think the design is ugly. If you want people to wear the jacket, the simple fact is you’ve got to make it appealing to them instead of stubbornly insisting that it’s got superior heat retention and therefore it just makes logical sense to wear it over the colder but far more popular jacket that people prefer because it’s fashionable.
When I was younger, I was all about the tinkering/troubleshooting to delve into the world of open source software. As I get older, I just want my shit to work consistently and for troubleshooting to include a large user base so that the odds of there being a solution is high. I no longer have the time/patience/interest to spend hours/days troubleshooting. Communications software like Discord is especially challenging when it comes to pitching an open-source alternative, because without major advantages that most users can appreciate enough to make the leap, the open source alternative’s population will remain quite low because most users are wiling to sacrifice privacy for convenience/familiarity.
No doubt, this post will irk some people but… what can I say? Open source software has to revolve around convenience because that’s what most users value above all else. Pitching an app like Signal to friends/family was a breeze because of how relatively seamless the process of installing/using it as a primary app for texting via SMS and Signal messages. But pitching an app like an open source Discord alternative, it has unique challenges that I really think developers need to pay attention to.
Right now, I think an unfortunate amount of open source devs are of the mindset as Principal Skinner:
"Am I so out of touch??"
"No, it’s the users who are wrong."
A lot of open source software is like the fanny pack or cargo pants-- functionally useful but good luck pitching either product to most people. I think a lot of open source advocates don’t take into considerate the social aspect of pitching alternatives to proprietary software and instead just dismiss it as unimportant, but then they’re left sort of bitterly wondering why nobody’s using the fanny pack/cargo pants of software. I’ve always found this interesting, particularly when it comes to the animosity the tech community has for Apple products. It’s like an anti-social/awkward person just not at all understanding why charismatic, fashionable people tend to be attract more positive attention or they do understand and stubbornly insist on not even attempting to be more charismatic/fashionable.
Of course it is going to look nice if you are being pampered with loads of money to lure you in. Discord is just a bit earlier in the inevitable progression than Reddit etc… why are you here now and not any longer on Reddit?
Because unlike Discord, I have a number of issues with reddit to the point of it creating an unpleasant experience. Switch from reddit to Lemmy didn’t have to involve convincing my friends to join Lemmy, as it’s a website-- not communications software in the way Discord is.
The compromise of a small community on Lemmy is something I don’t mind, because it doesn’t really prevent conversations from happening. Whereas switching from Discord to an open source alternative that most of my friends aren’t going to use just leaves me with perhaps a better alternative to Discord in terms of functionality/privacy without anyone else using it.
Well, that is exactly my point. Sooner or later similar issues as with Reddit will crop up on Discord and it is likely to be worse as Discord has an even stronger user lock-in.
Discord is just a bit earlier in the inevitable progression than Reddit etc… why are you here now and not any longer on Reddit?
So then you pretty much answered your own question, I think. When Discord has enough fuckery for me to be annoyed with it, I’ll gladly hop to an alternative. I’m in a whopping two Discord communities and I don’t think the transition would be very difficult at that point.
Because if Discord starts having major issues that impact convenience, I’ll have an easy time pointing that out to my friends-- particularly if there’s an open source alternative that alleviates said issues.
Signal was pretty rough when it first came out but the moment they had support for Windows, OS X, iOS and Android, it was ridiculously easy to convince people to make the switch from whatever they were previously using to Signal.
I feel like you’re too concerned with playing devil’s advocate than trying to figure this out for yourself by thinking in more nuanced terms that take social dynamics into account.
I guess I’m in the minority on this but… feature wise, I think it’s fantastic. It’s got nearly everything I could ask for, and I love how easy it is to stream and watch videos with groups of people. I often steam Seinfeld and other TV shows/movies in a leftist Discord community that I’m in and it’s just so nice to be able to do it so easily, without having to walk non tech-savvy users through lengthy troubleshooting in order for things to work. Pretty much any issue I’ve encountered when it comes to streaming/watching content was resolved within a few minutes of Googling.
Privacy wise, I wish there was an open-source alternative to Discord that a) has the same features and b) is user-friendly enough to actually shift Discord users to it. Unfortunately, pitching open-source alternatives to Discord is very difficult because they just aren’t as easy for most users to use and because it’s pretty hard to shift a large amount of users from one program they’re very familiar with to one that they’re not familiar with.
I think tech-savvy people are generally more inclined to shift to open-source software, particularly in the early stages, because they’re not nearly as bothered by the tinkering/troubleshooting involved. I think it’s similar to why so few people use Linux compared to Windows. But what a lot of tech savvy people just can’t wrap their heads around is the simple fact that for the overwhelming majority of users, they don’t have the time/patience/interest to switch to new alternatives to programs/systems they’ve been using for years and are comfortable using. It’s like pitching a jacket that is superior in terms of heat retention, but most people just think the design is ugly. If you want people to wear the jacket, the simple fact is you’ve got to make it appealing to them instead of stubbornly insisting that it’s got superior heat retention and therefore it just makes logical sense to wear it over the colder but far more popular jacket that people prefer because it’s fashionable.
When I was younger, I was all about the tinkering/troubleshooting to delve into the world of open source software. As I get older, I just want my shit to work consistently and for troubleshooting to include a large user base so that the odds of there being a solution is high. I no longer have the time/patience/interest to spend hours/days troubleshooting. Communications software like Discord is especially challenging when it comes to pitching an open-source alternative, because without major advantages that most users can appreciate enough to make the leap, the open source alternative’s population will remain quite low because most users are wiling to sacrifice privacy for convenience/familiarity.
No doubt, this post will irk some people but… what can I say? Open source software has to revolve around convenience because that’s what most users value above all else. Pitching an app like Signal to friends/family was a breeze because of how relatively seamless the process of installing/using it as a primary app for texting via SMS and Signal messages. But pitching an app like an open source Discord alternative, it has unique challenges that I really think developers need to pay attention to.
Right now, I think an unfortunate amount of open source devs are of the mindset as Principal Skinner:
"Am I so out of touch??"
"No, it’s the users who are wrong."
A lot of open source software is like the fanny pack or cargo pants-- functionally useful but good luck pitching either product to most people. I think a lot of open source advocates don’t take into considerate the social aspect of pitching alternatives to proprietary software and instead just dismiss it as unimportant, but then they’re left sort of bitterly wondering why nobody’s using the fanny pack/cargo pants of software. I’ve always found this interesting, particularly when it comes to the animosity the tech community has for Apple products. It’s like an anti-social/awkward person just not at all understanding why charismatic, fashionable people tend to be attract more positive attention or they do understand and stubbornly insist on not even attempting to be more charismatic/fashionable.
Says the pig being fattened up for slaughter /s
Of course it is going to look nice if you are being pampered with loads of money to lure you in. Discord is just a bit earlier in the inevitable progression than Reddit etc… why are you here now and not any longer on Reddit?
Because unlike Discord, I have a number of issues with reddit to the point of it creating an unpleasant experience. Switch from reddit to Lemmy didn’t have to involve convincing my friends to join Lemmy, as it’s a website-- not communications software in the way Discord is.
The compromise of a small community on Lemmy is something I don’t mind, because it doesn’t really prevent conversations from happening. Whereas switching from Discord to an open source alternative that most of my friends aren’t going to use just leaves me with perhaps a better alternative to Discord in terms of functionality/privacy without anyone else using it.
Well, that is exactly my point. Sooner or later similar issues as with Reddit will crop up on Discord and it is likely to be worse as Discord has an even stronger user lock-in.
So then you pretty much answered your own question, I think. When Discord has enough fuckery for me to be annoyed with it, I’ll gladly hop to an alternative. I’m in a whopping two Discord communities and I don’t think the transition would be very difficult at that point.
How will you do it when as you say yourself all your friends are still on Discord?
Because if Discord starts having major issues that impact convenience, I’ll have an easy time pointing that out to my friends-- particularly if there’s an open source alternative that alleviates said issues.
Signal was pretty rough when it first came out but the moment they had support for Windows, OS X, iOS and Android, it was ridiculously easy to convince people to make the switch from whatever they were previously using to Signal.
I feel like you’re too concerned with playing devil’s advocate than trying to figure this out for yourself by thinking in more nuanced terms that take social dynamics into account.