Discord: Much More Than Your Kids' "WhatsApp"
Is your child all day in Discord, and you don't know why? Discover how this platform has become teenagers' digital “living room” and how to understand their world.
If you have a son or daughter who plays video games, the scene will surely ring a bell: they are in their room, in front of the screen, talking animatedly with their friends while each one, from their own home, coordinates an online game. Sometimes it looks like they are working in a call center, but what they are really doing is inhabiting their digital “third place.”
In sociology, the “third place” is that space that is neither home nor school (or work), but a social meeting point. For Gen Z, that place is called Discord.
What is Discord exactly?
Although we usually compare it to WhatsApp, Discord is actually a hybrid mix between Slack, Microsoft Teams, and a game room. It is a platform designed to create communities (called “servers”) where you can chat by text, talk by voice, and stream video in real-time.
If WhatsApp is a tool for quick messages, Discord is an always-open digital living room. You don’t just enter to send a message; you enter to “be” with others.
Why is it teenagers’ favorite tool?
It’s not just because of video games. Discord has managed to understand young people’s needs better than Facebook or even Instagram. Here are its key advantages:
Privacy and Anonymity: Unlike WhatsApp, you don’t need to give out your phone number to talk to someone. You only require a username. This gives them a layer of privacy they value highly.
Organization by Channels: Within a single server (the friend group), they can have separate channels for different topics: one for homework, one for music, one for the trendy game, and one for memes. Everything is tidy; it’s not a chaos of infinite messages.
Superior Voice Quality: Its technology allows being on a voice call for hours without cuts and with very low resource consumption, which allows playing at the same time without the computer or mobile phone freezing.
The “Bots”: Discord allows adding small automated programs (bots) that play music, launch polls, or automatically moderate group language.
Sense of Belonging: Servers can range from a group of 5 school friends to massive communities. For example, the official Fortnite server in Spain has over 150,000 users, allowing kids with similar interests to meet and share tricks.
Servers: The Heart of the Platform
Everything on Discord happens in servers. Think of them as buildings where every room (channel) has a purpose.
Private Servers: The most common. Closed groups of friends where you can only enter by invitation.
Public Servers: Large fan communities about specific topics (anime, programming, YouTubers). Some content creators offer access to exclusive servers via paid subscriptions, creating a circle of trust with their followers.
Roles and Hierarchies: Admins can assign “roles” to users (e.g., “Moderator,” “Pro Player,” “Newbie”). This gives a social structure they love and helps them self-manage their own communities.
From Video Games to the Study of “Metaverse”
Although born for gamers, Discord has exploded in use in other areas. During exams, it is common to see study servers where young people share screens to explain math problems to each other or review notes together. Discord bets on this integral community model, even integrating its own game store and streaming services.
It is such a powerful tool that, if you know how to use it, it becomes an unrivaled hub for productivity and leisure.