1–10 of 146 posts
But Discord is far from being a real knowledge base, it's overwhelming and information is not searchable through a search engine.
Why not use a forum-like solution like Discourse?
I will be the first in line to complain about this, since it's a real loss for the web.
However.
Users fundamentally do not care and want something that works. Discord "works" how they want it to and has built the right patterns/etc to hook people.
Gotta out-compete it somehow if you want people to move.
Slack was popular before Discord.
I'd say it partially has to do with a learning curve.
More people are likely to have accounts for Slack / Discord / common tool than a custom forum. Internal (employees) and external (customers) are also likely more familiar with it.
That's what a lot of people are actually more interested in, just having a place to talk about stuff, not in using/creating a proper KB.
> But Discord is far from being a real knowledge base, it's overwhelming and information is not searchable through a search engine. I will be the first in line to complain about this, since it's a real loss for the web. However. Users fundamentally do not care and want something that works. Discord "works" how they want it to and has built the right patterns/etc to hook people. Gotta out-compete it somehow if you wan…
Arguably, it works less than more traditional forums though (a la Reddit). The fact that web search isn't supported means that users will keep asking the same questions. Searching for topics is harder too (as it's a long line of intertwined topics).
I moderate a room and see this a lot, so...
> But discord is far from a real knowledge base
I think you’d struggle to find many reddit moderators that see themselves as archivists of knowledge. Reddit being a go-to resource for google results is mostly seen as a fluke or unintended side effect.
It also has Reddit's critical feature of "one account, infinite communities", something you don't have when you become an indie forum.
It's not very searchable, but people don't care much about that. Just think of how nonessential HN search is to your day-to-day of having a conversation on HN.
> But Discord is far from being a real knowledge base, it's overwhelming and information is not searchable through a search engine. I will be the first in line to complain about this, since it's a real loss for the web. However. Users fundamentally do not care and want something that works. Discord "works" how they want it to and has built the right patterns/etc to hook people. Gotta out-compete it somehow if you wan…
> Users fundamentally do not care and want something that works. Arguably, it works less than more traditional forums though (a la Reddit). The fact that web search isn't supported means that users will keep asking the same questions. Searching for topics is harder too (as it's a long line of intertwined topics). I moderate a room and see this a lot, so...
Discord lets members of your community search for messages. It lets you pin important messages to be easily referenced later. It lets you create a link to the message, and send it to others later on, so they can re-read prior information.
Their concern is not “Someone off the Internet can’t find this off of Google, read it, and then close the tab, never to return again.” They simply do not care.
Your post is assuming that moderators are looking for an alternative to Reddit that benefits the lurkers, when, in reality, they are looking for an alternative to Reddit that benefits their community. Discord solves the latter.