Discord for Organizing Events?

[superchris01]

Hey guys, I setup a discord server for FACEs.

Besides the intended use as a game chat, its a great platform to organize things, like the fan episode everyone did or some other event. I have it already setup so you don’t get notifications unless mentioned so your phone doesn’t blow up messages you don’t want.

If you guys join and have suggestions to better organize it, I’ll take it! I’m learning the ins and outs of setting up discord anyway and will appreciate feedback.

If you want to join, let me know and I’ll setup a link for you. And if there’s a way to send you a message with a link outside of a public forum, let me know! I rather make sure the link is secure. Only requirement for an account is an email address that other users won’t see. You can download the app for your devices or just login from a browser.

[Jeff Ross]

Hmm…

I’m not entirely sure that we need a Discord server, Chris, but I’m all for helping you learn how to set one up and organize it. Let me know how to access the server and I can give you my feedback. You can reach me at the contact information listed here: https://auxcableshow.com/community/topic/auxcon/page/31/#post-40175

Once you have Skype set up, you can also use that same contact information to send me a Skype message and I’ll add you to the group chat there so you can be reached when the next Mini-AuxCon takes place. 🙂

[superchris01]

I setup a Skype account!

And yeah, the Discord server isn’t something I see us on constantly. But my thinking is I have trouble keeping up with the forum, some only has Twitter, some only have Facebook, and some don’t even have social media I know of. So actually having a centralized location to go to for events that everyone can use with only an email would be useful.

Ryan is already on it and suggested a Minecraft chat so I created a Games category and a Collaboration category. And I think I have it setup so anyone can add a chat or category but not sure.

However I have come across the problem with Dawn’s school computer won’t let her on the site. So I have to look into that cause that was another reason for a discord server. You don’t have to download an app if you don’t want it taking space.

[DScott]

I’m not exactly sure what discord is. It sounds like it’s for online chatting.

[Josiah the Carrot Stick]

Yes, it is.

[Jeff Ross]

So Chris sent me the link and I signed up to the Discord. Initial reaction: I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, I really think they designed the interface slick. When you join the server, it gives you a fun and unique greeting message, the fonts are easy to read, and there isn’t much computer interference from using the program. Clearly they know what types of people use the site. Plus Ryan is on the server!

On the other hand, the “sign in” page displays artwork of cartoon creatures that I would rather not see (I’d rather it just be a blank screen), and I’m slightly concerned about what privacy settings need adjusting right away, as the “getting you up and running” almost seems too easy… Plus Matthew isn’t on the server.

I think that the Discord server is a good idea, and we can be sure to post information about upcoming events there, but I’m not sure if it’s where our headquarters for organizing should take place.

That’s my initial reaction. Stay tuned for updates as I learn more about how the site & program works.

[DScott]

Jeff never did give us any updates. I might be interested in joining now though.

[Jeff Ross]

I don’t have much to report back other than Ryan is pretty good at eventually responding to specific questions that I have asked him on the platform.

I’m not sure it’s for everyone, but you may like it, Franklin. I’ll see about sending you the link so you can join and give your opinion.

[superchris01]

Yeah! It be cool if you joined. Skype kind of became what I was thinking the discord could be. but still. Discord is cool if we use it for a game event or whatever at some point, lol

[Jeff Ross]

I apologize; It’s well overdue time for me to give an update. Here is my perspective after being on the Discord platform for over tube years now:

First of all, the loading art that I objected to was removed a long time ago. Most of the Skype F.A.C.E.s joined the original Discord server this past December, and Matthew started a new Discord server in April that is a little bit better organized for all F.A.C.E.s to join, designed for a broader audience than just “the Skype F.A.C.E.s” or even “F.A.C.E.s who are gamers”.

This brings me to the next point: Discord has morphed quite a bit, being used by more than just the gaming community, such that the platform has recently rebranded from “Chat for Gamers” to “Chat for Communities and Friends”. This is a plus for our purposes, as a greater variety of users means a broader array of features and intended uses.

From what I’ve observed in my limited use of the platform is that Discord is great for groups of people who associate primarily in other places, whether in-person or on other platforms. Like, the Skype F.A.C.E.s could chat mostly on Twitter, F.A.C.E.book, and Skype, then head to Discord for gaming together or having an audio-only chat or playing with a Discord Bot, have a good time, and then leave until the next Discord get-together. However, if they tried to use Discord primarily, the group would run into the pitfalls of Discord. It tends to be “easy come, easy go”. (Discord servers are often either very active or very dormant, with little in-between.)

Active Discord users frequently join a bunch of servers and make a bunch of “friends”, only to realize it’s tube much for them and have to scale back on everything, or scale back by choice after realizing that a lot of other people on Discord join a bunch of servers and become extremely shallow in their communications as a consequence. This is why I don’t recommend Discord to be the only place for groups to associate.

[Jeff Ross]

I’ll list some more observations here:
-Discord has a ton of privacy features and whatnot, so the accessibility/restrictiveness of the experience can be more user-controlled than other platforms. For example, my profile is currently set to not receive friend requests or message requests from strangers. I’m not sure if that’s the default or if I changed it, so I highly recommend looking through all the settings to make sure they are what you’d like them to be for you.

-It’s designed for use with pseudonyms and usernames, which means relative anonymity is an option, similar to the Not-Forum. One downside is I’ve seen people far more willing to give out their Discord info than other social media, which means it’s easier to get sucked into messaging opportunities that are really just time-wasting distractions.

-There are a ton of features… to the point that it may seem overwhelming… but it also provides some unique opportunities. A good Discord community has no problem asking questions, running experiments, and looking up feature sets to adjust to the seemingly never-ending learning curve of the platform.

-You can go back and retrieve old messages for various chats, but it involves scrolling up for the whole chat as opposed to the Not-Forum’s handy feature of going from page to page. [Although this might be something that can be adjusted in Discord’s settings, whether now or someday in the future; I’m not sure.]

-Discord is built for focused communication rather than worldwide accessibility, so it won’t replace a blog or an Instagram account or any other platform with a publishing focus. Rather it may replace a platform like Skype, but Skype’s streamlined approach has its place too. (Some Skype F.A.C.E.s are more reachable on Discord than Skype as a result, although the Skype F.A.C.E. group chat is still the main hangout spot.)

-The worst aspect of Discord that I’ve witnessed is I’ve seen some teens use Discord to go behind their parents’ backs to chat when they are supposed to be doing other things. That, however, is a user issue, not a platform issue, and one that families have to deal with for any social media that their children are on.

I was very wary of Discord for the longest time, since its name is “Discord” (even though it refers to the platform being there to “end the discord”). The turning point for me came when I joined Discord servers for a sizeable gaming community on YouTube that I’d become a major part of (I had been made a moderator for multiple YouTube channels in the community). The Discord involvement led to me to becoming more integrated in the community, even getting to share the Gospel with someone on Discord who wouldn’t have been accessible through many traditional means. I don’t think the F.A.C.E. Discord servers would necessarily serve that function, but when you live you faith wherever you go, including in your online interactions, doors can open that you didn’t expect. (Then again, everything about 2020 seems to be “what you didn’t expect”. XD )

[Jeff Ross]

My conclusion is this: Discord is not inherently better or worse than any other online communication platform. In fact, I believe it can be one of the best if used correctly. It would serve well as a place to host online events or organize them. Therefore I recommend the F.A.C.E.s who have not done so to give consideration to joining the platform and the Aux Cable server(s). I also recommend the organizers of F.A.C.E. events to consider how best to leverage the platform in the future, even though the Aux Cable servers are relatively dormant currently.

[Josiah the Carrot Stick]

What are the Aux Cable servers primarily used for?

[Jeff Ross]

At the moment… not much. Mostly cross-posting some of the messages I put on the Skype chat so the F.A.C.E.s who are a bit more active on Discord than Skype can read them.

However, they would be good for voice or text chats or facilitating group game activities if utilized. It’s just a matter of deciding to use them and showing up to do so.

If you have a Discord profile, let me know and I can send you the links to the servers if you’d like. (Last spring my Dad talked about a few of his students conducting group meetings over Discord, so I know it’s becoming more common to have one.)

[Author]

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