In a day and age when social media has become an integral part of human existence, the public has access to numerous channels to engage in business, education, and entertainment. As of 2021, 4.48 billion people worldwide use social media, with the average user accessing at least six platforms a month.
Daily, more established platforms have a percentage of daily users. For example, 65.86 percent of users log into Facebook every year. Today’s social media platform has expanded since the days of MySpace, with platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and now Discord ruling the virtual platform.
With an official launch date in 2015, Discord appears to be the new darling in social media, with many predicting that this newer platform can be the future of the internet. When it first started, the platform was designed as a gaming community.
In 2021, after rebranding itself and integrating updated communication functions, the platform has allowed users to form groups over several hobbies, host movie nights, enable gamers to verbally communicate while playing, and create platforms for introducing new music, among a million other activities including creating study groups. According to a January 2021 article, the platform hosts 140 million users, with 70 percent of active users in 2020 using the platform for non-gaming purposes.
Compared to other social media, Discord allows users to build their platforms. When entering the site, users can create a server or join one that has already been established. One server might contain several chat rooms that cater to specific topics or contain voice channels to play games or participate in particular activities. The platform is compatible with almost any device.
Discord is like most social media platforms in that it serves as a conduit for making connections with like-minded people around the world. However, Discord has taken traction in the last few years because it provides everyone who comes to the platform with equal power to create a space, especially in the music scene.
The first reason is that the social media platform has intensified the whole music listening experience by allowing users to access exclusive content. Discord allows for more diversity in music. The platform also allows a user to launch a game in the same way Charli XCX and AG Cook did with the launch of Apple Guide, an alternate reality game lasting a month and one that provided hidden clues on the internet that would unlock stems from the artists 49-song album.
The platform also allows users to join large servers containing smaller servers dedicated to various acts where community members can share photos, watch videos, share videos, and listen to interviews of their favorite acts.
Additionally, the platform allows users to engage in activism about causes that are important to them. For example, MuTaNts1000000 released their album on the platform to raise funds to support POC, queer, and trans lives. The platform made it possible to garner support and mobilize a community around a single cause. Moreover, Discord allowed them to do so so that they could communicate in real-time with one another over the application.
Finally, music lovers can create their server dedicated to everything musical. One popular server, for instance, Kenny Beats, allows for file sharing and crowdsourcing, where people share advice, opinions and discuss music-making. Ultimately, the server is like a virtual workspace.
