Have you heard of Discord? It originally became popular in the gaming community because of its real-time chat functions. It manages to make the real-time feel more real time, with some describing it as though the person is sitting in the room right next to you as you play the game.
In the transition to the remote workforce, Discord for business got some real traction. But if you read through many a Discord review, you find that many who were looking for a business app found that it fell flat.
Why is it that it remains so popular and useful for the gaming community, but not for the business world? What are the key aspects you should be looking for in finding the right tools for your business in the world of remote work?
Discord is designed for group chats, but it was geared towards gamers and as the company expanded, it became a tool for people who wanted to hang out virtually, or use it for after-school groups. Discord could more easily transition into the academic setting than it could the professional one. That's an important consideration. For what audience is the platform built for?
Because Discord uses VoIP, it does fit in perfectly with the systems that many businesses already employ. However, one major downside to this, is that it doesn't allow you to use a different system for customers as employees. Does the software you choose meet your company's goals?
Another big consideration is always going to have to be safety. You must be certain that the software you choose to meet online is secure. Does gaming software have what your company requires?
Unlike Discord, Slack for Business was originally created for business. Let's take a look at a rundown of the differences between Slack vs Discord for Business.
Using Slack for business means you're using collaboration software specific to the professional environment. Slack features a system of team breakdowns into what they call channels. This allows you to set up different rooms or in this case Channels, which different people have access to, and can leave messages on like on a message board.
Comparing Discord vs Slack, you find that Discord is a bit more geared towards real time communication and video chats than the message board system style of Slack.
If you take a look at Slack vs Discord Reddit you'll find some in-depth coverage of the move that many are making from Slack to Discord. In Discord vs Slack 2020, Discord does have the lead according to Reddit.
When you take a look at Telegram vs Slack vs Discord, Telegram provides a kind of middle ground as a traditional but casual messaging app, while Slack and Discord do provide much more robust remote team work options.
There are many faceoffs you can consider. You can compare Discord to Microsoft's offer and have Discord vs Teams, although it is perhaps more useful to look at Slack vs Teams. Some might also find the comparison of Discord vs Teamspeak very useful, but one of the most useful comparisons is with another of the fastest growing software to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic: Discord vs Zoom.
Both Zoom and Discord offer a form of real time communication, and in choosing that, there are several considerations that are always going to be important. How “real-time” does your business need and how “real-time” is the software you’re using?
For Discord, because the software is so tied to gaming — where timing of communication is so critical — the on-demand speaking features are likely as close to real-time as you can get.
However, Zoom offers different video features that may be of more importance to your company than having things as real-time as possible.
How does Slack fit into the conversation about Discord vs Zoom for Business? What about Slack vs Discord vs Gitter? There are a lot of permutations, and still reasons to use the Slack app and Slack stock in conjunction with other software.
There are some problems that are going to come up immediately in regards to a Discord collaboration business model as opposed to in the Discord game environment. This can be thought of as one of the big Discord disadvantages: it simply was not developed with businesses in mind.
This leads to two consequences. For both of these you have to consider what is Discord used for? If it's just casual chats, or to foster break time socializing, that's one thing — but are important meetings happening over Discord? If so, it's likely your business may require a more secure option. In fact, anything extending past the most casual use requires a careful audit to ascertain that the security is adequate for your needs in relation to how the software is being used.
Additionally, Discord uses an aesthetic and branding that displays an overall casual look. This may be fine for some companies, but for others it can be off-putting or even problematic.
With the remote workforce, it's more important than ever to have a messaging app that can do more and be more to your employees in terms of fostering a collaborative environment. Some messaging apps may be ideal for certain individuals or informal groups (just like Discord messaging took off so well amongst gamers), but it's more important you consider the bigger picture over individual preference.
You may ask yourself, how does the idea of a Slack channel fit into the overall corporate organizational structure? Can the way in which Discord threads operate function within the various levels of project management?
If Discord messaging has already become possible but does not provide a robust enough platform to meet the full range of needs to your company, you can consider a Discord Slack integration. The Discord Wiki has further instructions about how to sync Discord and Slack.
This brings us to one of the most important questions in determining if Discord for Business is right for you: is Discord safe? This is going to depend on a host of factors, and the end result depends on what the specific needs and expectations of your company are.
Let's take a look at some of the questions you should be considering when determining is Discord safe enough for you.
How secure is Discord server? One of the major points of weakness are these forums. Can you keep yours secure if needed? The forums are open to everyone, and are often monitored by Discord bots. The best Discord bots do their job, but some let too much bad behavior fall through the cracks, leading to potential Discord bullying, and raiding of servers for off-topic or even illicit topics. Many won't want to associate with a company if this becomes a major problem.
Another major question has to be, does Discord sell data? The last thing anyone needs is a Discord controversy about that topic once you've been using them for conducting business.
These are all important questions to answer about Discord safety before signing up in the professional setting.
The Discord business model is an interesting one. Based in the Discord marketing strategy that relies heavily on Discord social media use, one can find some answers by consulting how does Discord make money Reddit.
The Discord marketing strategy allowed the company to grow with unparalleled success, especially considering their unique business model. But a lot of what allowed for that fast growth was the appeal to a non-professional audience. The Discord social media campaign acted as a giant word of mouth success story, one that went viral amongst gamers.
While only launching in 2015, by 2019 the company counted more than 250 million users — and that was before Covid-19 made remote communication such a vital part of our lives.
Discord offers its chat services for free, is opposed to advertising, and says they do not sell user data. So how did they earn that $2 billion valuation in addition to those 250 million users?
Well, so far the company has been getting by mostly on funding, while also selling some merchandising. Their long term plan to make money is by offering freemium services. Users can still use the basic chat features for free, but there will be more and better options for those who pay for them.
It's a clever model, but for companies looking to invest in a long term software solution for collaboration there are still a whole lot of variables up in the air. Will Discord be able to maintain safety and security with this business model in the long term? Will it begin advertising, charging, or selling data in the future? These are important questions to have in choosing what software you want to use for messaging in the remote work environment. You have many options, from Slack technologies to out of the box Discord, so it's worth taking the time choosing the right one for your company.
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