I personally don't because while I switched to Linux because Windows got too shit I am the only person I know who did that. No one else has switched at all and I still have to go back to it to use it for things that I can't do on Linux or don't work nearly as well. So I would much rather use Discord in its current state not with the dumb age verification thing with the people I currently use it with. I would love for there to be a popular alternative that is actually good but I don't know of one.
The problem is that there isn't really anywhere to Exodus to. I already know people here on Lemmy are going to say Matrix but that's just not an option. It's trash, the protocol was designed by idiot neck beards that have never heard the term UX. Pretty much everything was done in a way that while technically speaking is efficient makes it unbelievably tedious to actually use and in some cases just outright annoying ensuring that users will never want to use it. Most recent example is forcing device verification, it is technically correct, it is better from a security standpoint it is better from a verifiability standpoint. But for the average user who could not give less of a shit about that it is nothing more than something that pisses them off and annoys them every single time they open the application because despite the fact that they should be remembering at least in my testing it almost never does and I have to put in my stupid key every single God damn time especially if I'm using it in the browser.
Teamspeakers trying to rebuild itself to be more Discord like but it's still in early beta and not at all ready for it so that's not an option, and everything else is pretty much either just as shit or just as likely to implement this tomorrow as Discord
It's hard to get away from consolidation. I see things like Stoat getting popular, though it looks like development slowed down?
Teamspeak works fine, most use Discord as a voice and quick text app rather than a social network anyway. And honestly the whole "forum" aspect of Discord needs to rot anyway, perhaps this would stop companies relying on Discord as their news and support outlet, because fuck that.
Ohgod its so annoying when I find some software I want to download and its only available to download from their Discord. Like what happened to having a damn website.
Matrix is not trash, you are just not understanding it's intended application. This ain't it. It's intended for commercial use. Where security is a high priority.
Because parents do not want to deal with monitoring or taking care of their children. You can limit apps etc on PCs and phones easily with parental controls and no they are not perfect but parents are lazy or too incompetent to figure it out.
You are not wrong, but then a large portion of the US glorifies being stupid and sees any sort of education effort as some sort of freedom destroying conspiracy.
You joke but I saw so many complaints when Facebook and Twitter started blocking 13 and younger from people who had ten year old accounts, created when they were under 13, getting banned, despite currently not being underaged. Because the verification was built terribly.
I wonder if they'll take into account that, had I signed up at (the youngest possible age of) 13, the age of my account would then make me 21. I suppose they can't really sell that inferred data...
Did they edit the article or am I maybe just blind? I don't see metadata being mentioned anywhere in the article or in the original Discord announcement. I even did a ctrl+f on meta, and nothing came up.
So what alternative to Discord are we switching to? I'm geniunely asking because my server is an 18+ Roleplay Server and members have been asking what we're moving to... And we don't really have an answer for them.
I've been encouraging everyone to add me on Telegram so we can keep in touch, but Telegram doesn't allow it in the ToS for you make 18+ Only Groups
Stoat (formerly revolt) would be my vote. It's basically an open source clone of Discord. It might not have every feature you want, but the basics are all there, and the UI is pretty much indistinguishable so even non-techie friends won't mind the switch.
Matrix is not going to catch on. It is too intense for the average person. My friend didn't want to bother with all the security features and couldn't sign in without issue constantly.
Last I remember using it. it was a room setting or something. I don't remember exactly, but it was always as pain with the friends I had it toggled on with, but otherwise fine.
Screen share, specifically with low latency, is a huge feature thats really widely used. Everything from watching videos together, to playing RPGs via the shared screen, to coaching esports games. When I tried Matrix before (like a year ago) the multi-second latency on screen sharing was what made me give up on it.
It looks interesting. Do you know if I as a user can join multiple groups? Because I am part of a few servers on Discrod with widely different topics and its not an option to have one community and have all people join there.
Matrix is no where near the level of discord, if all you need is a chat app than ya sure, simplex or Matrix work great. If you want feature parity... Definitely not either of those two, as they are just glorified sms/group text apps.
Well don't downvote the comment that answered your question. If you're looking for something that's exactly exactly exactly Z, then the answer will only ever be Z
You're getting downvoted because your answer was bad. Slack isn't "not exactly like discord", slack is not even remotely close to a replacement for discord unless you are only considering text based lobbies. Slack is built around enterprise IM as a paid service, discord is built around gaming voice chat as a free service.
If someone says that they want to replace their Tesla and you offer a golf cart to them while saying, "they're both electric, so same difference", don't be surprised by others finding that unhelpful.
Slack requires payment for messages to persist over 90 days. We used to use Slack for an organization I'm part of. We moved to Discord when that was introduced which is kinda funny.
Discord always felt way overbuilt to me for a text/voice chat and screen sharing app. Same problem with Teams and others; they aren't forums, stop trying to make them replace forums.
There definitely needs to be a social pressure to drop discord, I propose that there needs to be some level of social stigma around using or liking discord. Like for example if someone says they prefer discord or like its look and features and promote people to verify or even buy Discord Nitro, call them a discord bro or similar negative quip (we can find the names and phrases in due time).
If that sounds too harsh consider that if someone said they like to use chatGPT and prefer to use it, a lot of people would call them AI bros for that. It isn't much different. Social stigma is a powerful motive. Especially for creators and for platforms where PR is of utmost importance.
Like if Discord usage is stigmatized we can go from discord API logins on community sites and projects to them never even acknowledging discord exists. That's what will drive change, not inconvenience, not privacy violations by discord, or even good intentions on their part. Shame that loses people's respect for them.
I only even use it because I have networks that refuse to see the writing on the wall. Maybe this will finally give them the kick they need to try matrix? Probably not...
Personally I'm fine with the restrictions. I'm not in any age restricted servers and I don't use the Stage feature. I already have pms restricted to mutual servers. If they want to "assume I'm 13" let them. If I can get on voice with my D&D group idgaf.
No I'm not trusting them with my info, or RL identity, but it sounds like they're not booting people off the service for not providing it.
92 Comments
warm@kbin.earth · 75 pts · 191d
The whole internet is adult-by-default, so why are we doing any sort of age verification?
But please Discord, keep ruining the platform, cause an exodus.
7112@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 191d
PhoenixDog@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 191d
Except trans children. Don't think of them. Apparently.
AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 191d
Hoping discord pulls a windows and enshitifies so completely that people finally abandon it
Stez827@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 189d
I personally don't because while I switched to Linux because Windows got too shit I am the only person I know who did that. No one else has switched at all and I still have to go back to it to use it for things that I can't do on Linux or don't work nearly as well. So I would much rather use Discord in its current state not with the dumb age verification thing with the people I currently use it with. I would love for there to be a popular alternative that is actually good but I don't know of one.
LordKitsuna@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 190d
The problem is that there isn't really anywhere to Exodus to. I already know people here on Lemmy are going to say Matrix but that's just not an option. It's trash, the protocol was designed by idiot neck beards that have never heard the term UX. Pretty much everything was done in a way that while technically speaking is efficient makes it unbelievably tedious to actually use and in some cases just outright annoying ensuring that users will never want to use it. Most recent example is forcing device verification, it is technically correct, it is better from a security standpoint it is better from a verifiability standpoint. But for the average user who could not give less of a shit about that it is nothing more than something that pisses them off and annoys them every single time they open the application because despite the fact that they should be remembering at least in my testing it almost never does and I have to put in my stupid key every single God damn time especially if I'm using it in the browser.
Teamspeakers trying to rebuild itself to be more Discord like but it's still in early beta and not at all ready for it so that's not an option, and everything else is pretty much either just as shit or just as likely to implement this tomorrow as Discord
warm@kbin.earth · 4 pts · 190d
It's hard to get away from consolidation. I see things like Stoat getting popular, though it looks like development slowed down?
Teamspeak works fine, most use Discord as a voice and quick text app rather than a social network anyway. And honestly the whole "forum" aspect of Discord needs to rot anyway, perhaps this would stop companies relying on Discord as their news and support outlet, because fuck that.
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 6 pts · 190d
Ohgod its so annoying when I find some software I want to download and its only available to download from their Discord. Like what happened to having a damn website.
warm@kbin.earth · 3 pts · 190d
Yep. If some software requires Discord for support and updates, I find other software.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 0 pts · 190d
Matrix is not trash, you are just not understanding it's intended application. This ain't it. It's intended for commercial use. Where security is a high priority.
LordKitsuna@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 190d
Someone should really let the people over at matrix.org know that, the messaging is very clearly aimed at normal users.
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 2 pts · 190d
Because parents do not want to deal with monitoring or taking care of their children. You can limit apps etc on PCs and phones easily with parental controls and no they are not perfect but parents are lazy or too incompetent to figure it out.
warm@kbin.earth · 3 pts · 190d
Sounds like a lack of education. The focus should be there, not age verification.
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 5 pts · 190d
You are not wrong, but then a large portion of the US glorifies being stupid and sees any sort of education effort as some sort of freedom destroying conspiracy.
PapaSkwat@lemmings.world · -5 pts · 189d
Yep, huge portion. Sucks.
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz · 47 pts · 191d
Cool.
The restrictions won't change what little I use it for, but it might piss off some of my friends who are deep in the discord rabbit hole.
northendtrooper@lemmy.ca · 33 pts · 191d
If they did it right they would grandfather older accounts And start with new(er) accounts. But we know that is not the goal.
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works · 28 pts · 191d
Yeah my account is 9 years old, doesn't make sense unless I was 8 when I made the account.
Telorand@reddthat.com · 18 pts · 191d
Discord age-verification bot: "Your account is nine years old, and nine-year-olds are too young to use Discord. Terminating account."
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 2 pts · 190d
You joke but I saw so many complaints when Facebook and Twitter started blocking 13 and younger from people who had ten year old accounts, created when they were under 13, getting banned, despite currently not being underaged. Because the verification was built terribly.
mycodesucks@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 191d
Good. Maybe we can stop using a transient digital bathroom wall as a primary system of information distribution.
chris@lemmy.grey.fail · 17 pts · 191d
I wonder if they'll take into account that, had I signed up at (the youngest possible age of) 13, the age of my account would then make me 21. I suppose they can't really sell that inferred data...
justdaveisfine@piefed.social · 7 pts · 191d
The article says they may check metadata to verify users as well, so as far as I can tell, they will take that into account.
riot@fedia.io · 5 pts · 191d
Did they edit the article or am I maybe just blind? I don't see metadata being mentioned anywhere in the article or in the original Discord announcement. I even did a ctrl+f on meta, and nothing came up.
justdaveisfine@piefed.social · 12 pts · 191d
Oh dang no this article didn't, the one from the Verge mentioned it: https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
Sorry I read 2-3 articles about this and mixed up which ones mentioned what.
riot@fedia.io · 4 pts · 191d
Ah, thanks a lot for the link! I appreciate it. They really should put that information into their official announcement as well.
gustofwind@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 191d
You could have lied then too and not been 13 at the time
chris@lemmy.grey.fail · 7 pts · 191d
I'm actually seven right now. 👶
bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 191d
Impressive online skills for a second grader
chris@lemmy.grey.fail · 7 pts · 191d
QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 191d
So what alternative to Discord are we switching to? I'm geniunely asking because my server is an 18+ Roleplay Server and members have been asking what we're moving to... And we don't really have an answer for them.
I've been encouraging everyone to add me on Telegram so we can keep in touch, but Telegram doesn't allow it in the ToS for you make 18+ Only Groups
somerandomperson@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 190d
XMPP, IRC, Matrix or Stoat.
Johanno@feddit.org · 3 pts · 190d
Teamspeak still exists
marius@feddit.org · 2 pts · 190d
Mumble is better though
Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 190d
Stoat (formerly revolt) would be my vote. It's basically an open source clone of Discord. It might not have every feature you want, but the basics are all there, and the UI is pretty much indistinguishable so even non-techie friends won't mind the switch.
stom@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 189d
Does it have screen share yet?
Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 188d
Not as far as I'm aware, but I could be wrong. Didn't really look into screen share.
pewgar_seemsimandroid@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 190d
root, I've seen 18+ non nsfw servers there
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 190d
Microsoft Teams
Quexotic@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 188d
I appreciate your sense of humor.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 191d
British people right now :
kuro@piefed.social · 16 pts · 191d
I would love to have an alternative to which some of the communities I am currently in can migrate. Not easy to find anything that is like Discord.
Pipster@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 20 pts · 191d
Matrix is a possibility but its sometimes a bit of a hard sell to people.
dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 11 pts · 191d
yeah, was going to say I think Matrix is the reasonable alternative
chosensilence@pawb.social · 9 pts · 191d
Matrix is not going to catch on. It is too intense for the average person. My friend didn't want to bother with all the security features and couldn't sign in without issue constantly.
Postimo@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 191d
That's only really a problem if it's end to end encrypted right?
Ulrich@feddit.org · 1 pts · 190d
But...it is.
Postimo@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 190d
Last I remember using it. it was a room setting or something. I don't remember exactly, but it was always as pain with the friends I had it toggled on with, but otherwise fine.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 1 pts · 190d
Yeah but it's on by default. And it's not clear at all that you can turn it off or how.
Postimo@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 190d
Ah yeah, I don't know if I agree with it as default when it's janky. But I get their logic.
QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 188d
Matrix IS NOT user friendly nor is it for breakfast
Pipster@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 188d
Its really not that bad. If you dont mess with the encryption stuff too much then even an idiot like me was able to drive it well enough.
QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 191d
I've used Matrix and it's... a bit unwieldy to say the least.
inlandempire@jlai.lu · 13 pts · 191d
I dont know if Stoat (ex Revolt) is as good but it seems to be the most direct competitor
kuro@piefed.social · 4 pts · 191d
Yeah looks like it. Thanks. Maybe I take a closer look at that one.
BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 191d
I’ve been told to try Stoat a lot today, but the Discord news seems to have hugged their signup system to death.
kuro@piefed.social · 2 pts · 191d
Well thats good and bad at the same time. I will try today as well. Maybe Stoat can get a critical number of users going to get this really started.
Benchamoneh@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 191d
I feel like a modern IRC client would cover it wouldn't it? What am I missing?
redwattlebird@lemmings.world · 2 pts · 191d
My friends tell me it's screen share that they want and why Mumble etc. won't cut it.
PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 191d
Screen share, specifically with low latency, is a huge feature thats really widely used. Everything from watching videos together, to playing RPGs via the shared screen, to coaching esports games. When I tried Matrix before (like a year ago) the multi-second latency on screen sharing was what made me give up on it.
onehundredsixtynine@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 190d
kuro@piefed.social · 1 pts · 190d
It looks interesting. Do you know if I as a user can join multiple groups? Because I am part of a few servers on Discrod with widely different topics and its not an option to have one community and have all people join there.
knatschus@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 191d
Teamspeak3 still works fine for me
Beacon@fedia.io · -12 pts · 191d
Slack is basically the same thing as a platform
kuro@piefed.social · 15 pts · 191d
Slack needs payment to have group calls. Also it would be nice to move something open and ideally something self-hosted.
y0kai@anarchist.nexus · 6 pts · 191d
matrix maybe?
Zoot@reddthat.com · 4 pts · 191d
Matrix is no where near the level of discord, if all you need is a chat app than ya sure, simplex or Matrix work great. If you want feature parity... Definitely not either of those two, as they are just glorified sms/group text apps.
QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 191d
Plus there's the fact that Matrix is heavily user unfriendly
Beacon@fedia.io · -11 pts · 191d
Well don't downvote the comment that answered your question. If you're looking for something that's exactly exactly exactly Z, then the answer will only ever be Z
Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 191d
You're getting downvoted because your answer was bad. Slack isn't "not exactly like discord", slack is not even remotely close to a replacement for discord unless you are only considering text based lobbies. Slack is built around enterprise IM as a paid service, discord is built around gaming voice chat as a free service.
If someone says that they want to replace their Tesla and you offer a golf cart to them while saying, "they're both electric, so same difference", don't be surprised by others finding that unhelpful.
kuro@piefed.social · 8 pts · 191d
Believe it or not. I did not downvote you. Seems crazy but there are other people here and promoting Slack seems to be a not so popular opinion.
sudoMakeUser@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 191d
Slack requires payment for messages to persist over 90 days. We used to use Slack for an organization I'm part of. We moved to Discord when that was introduced which is kinda funny.
disconnectikacio@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 191d
Discord was always an overhyped crap.
Suburbanl3g3nd@lemmings.world · 12 pts · 191d
Ewww. Discord? More like Discard
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 12 pts · 191d
Discord always felt way overbuilt to me for a text/voice chat and screen sharing app. Same problem with Teams and others; they aren't forums, stop trying to make them replace forums.
fibojoly@sh.itjust.works · 11 pts · 191d
I can't wait for people to get back to IRC!
Draconic_NEO@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 191d
There definitely needs to be a social pressure to drop discord, I propose that there needs to be some level of social stigma around using or liking discord. Like for example if someone says they prefer discord or like its look and features and promote people to verify or even buy Discord Nitro, call them a discord bro or similar negative quip (we can find the names and phrases in due time). If that sounds too harsh consider that if someone said they like to use chatGPT and prefer to use it, a lot of people would call them AI bros for that. It isn't much different. Social stigma is a powerful motive. Especially for creators and for platforms where PR is of utmost importance.
Like if Discord usage is stigmatized we can go from discord API logins on community sites and projects to them never even acknowledging discord exists. That's what will drive change, not inconvenience, not privacy violations by discord, or even good intentions on their part. Shame that loses people's respect for them.
Blackdoomax@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 190d
A 12 yo that I know scanned his face. It recognized it as an adult and now he can't talk with his friends, only adults...
QuadratureSurfer@piefed.social · 1 pts · 190d
Is he in the same discord server as them? Or is he unable to send direct messages to them?
Chiqa@midwest.social · 5 pts · 191d
SAF77@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 191d
You can say fuck or shit, ya know.
Nasan@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 191d
Think of their platform!
Chiqa@midwest.social · 3 pts · 191d
Eggymatrix@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 191d
QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 191d
Can we NOT use Matrix? It's way too user unfriendly.
myrt@lemmus.org · 5 pts · 191d
Aw mah gawd thats VENTRILO music!
renegadespork@lemmy.jelliefrontier.net · 3 pts · 191d
k
I only even use it because I have networks that refuse to see the writing on the wall. Maybe this will finally give them the kick they need to try matrix? Probably not...
Nefara@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 191d
Personally I'm fine with the restrictions. I'm not in any age restricted servers and I don't use the Stage feature. I already have pms restricted to mutual servers. If they want to "assume I'm 13" let them. If I can get on voice with my D&D group idgaf.
No I'm not trusting them with my info, or RL identity, but it sounds like they're not booting people off the service for not providing it.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 190d
Quexotic@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 188d
This is for one reason one reason only. So dear leader can find out where you live if you say something unkind about him.
OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 184d
this comment has been redacted
OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 184d
If i just use it for messaging and nothing 18+ (didnt know discord even had that side), im assuming i dont need to upload my government documents?
RiQuY@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 191d
Please do.
Rhoeri@piefed.world · -5 pts · 191d
Fine by me.
Chiqa@midwest.social · 1 pts · 191d
dubyakay@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 191d
I think they mean that they simply won't Id themselves / stop using the platform.
Rhoeri@piefed.world · 3 pts · 191d
They do this shit, and I’ll not use their shit. Simple as.
Chiqa@midwest.social · 0 pts · 191d
PapaSkwat@lemmings.world · -5 pts · 189d
I already dumped them. No one is gonna scan me.