Discord is a text and voice chat application for PC/Mac, smartphones and tablets. It was developed for use in online gaming as a community building tool but has broader applications for groups like ours as well.
To join our group Discord, you’ll first need to install the app or log in through the website at https://discordapp.com/ and then you’ll need to create an account with your email address. You can use any name you want – nicknames can be changed independently on each server you join, as well. Once you have done these two things, you’ll need to join our server. The address is https://discord.gg/jWqR7gC (you may notice that this address changes – discord generates custom links every time you invite someone. They can be set to expire after a period of time to keep the server private, but this link is set to never expire). Once you have joined a server, it will be saved as an icon in your list of servers along the left side of your screen.
- The servers list. Pms will pop up at the top of this list as well.
- The channels list for the selected server (white bar next to server icon shows which one is selected currently)
- These include categories of channels, voice and text channels.
- Messaging window. This is where text and images are posted.
- Member pane – this shows who is online and offline of the folks who have joined the server. The colors of their names indicate which role tags have been applied. If someone has selected preferred pronouns, those will color their name blue for he/him, pink for she/her or yellow for they/them. Other colors represent relationship styles, sexual orientation, and relationship status. The role tags are server specific and cannot be seen by anyone not on our server. You can click on a member in this pane and see all the role labels assigned to them, private message them, or right click and send a friend request. The restrictions on friend requesting on FB do not apply on discord, as personal information is not shared in the same way in both services.
- Text entry window – this is where you type the message you wish to show in whatever text chat channel you’re currently viewing (it’ll be bold in the channel column)
- Your user settings – this is where you can customize your avatar, nickname, and other settings for your personal account.
The mobile app has a similar interface, but the panes slide to the left or right to allow space for the chat window.
Some folks have been wondering why I started the discord server, so please allow me to explain. Over the last year, Facebook has been issuing bans on any accounts that share NSFW imagery. There were dozens of NSFW content sharing groups on facebook 2 years ago, but they’re all gone now. This week, in the wake of Tumblr banning NSFW imagery on its’ site, Facebook has updated its community standards to now ban NSFW “words” such as those in the image below.
At this time, Discord does not moderate their user content, and you cannot be banned from using the service for posting such things. We can use the facebook group for normal group event setup and conversation, but anything of a more adult nature belongs off of Facebook to protect everyone from having their account zucc’d.
Please let us know if you have any questions!