5 Key Facts About Discord
The social media platform Discord has recently come into
the spotlight across the Arab and Asian regions, after its
significant role became evident during the protests that shook Morocco a
few weeks ago, where demonstrators demanded broad economic and social reforms.
The platform also surfaced prominently in Asia
during the Nepal protests, which rapidly evolved into a digital
revolution that ended with the government’s downfall and the election of former
judge Sushila Karki to lead the transitional phase. Similarly, Discord
played a key role in the Madagascar protests, which concluded with the
flight of President Andry Rajoelina from the country and a parliamentary
vote to remove him from power.
It is worth noting that Discord grew
in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it allowed individuals to maintain their virtual
communities and stay connected during lockdowns.
According to its terms of service, Discord
allows users aged 13 and above to use the application and requires
official identification for age verification.
Here are the five key facts about Discord:
1. The platform is American
in origin, developed by Stanislav Vishnevskiy and Jason Citron
in 2015.
It was created out of the founders’ need for a more reliable communication tool
for online gaming, inspired by their experience developing their game Fates
Forever.
2. Discord offers voice,
video, and text chat services within social spaces known as servers.
Users can create servers according to their needs and share invitations
directly with others.
Each server can include general chat channels, voice rooms, news or
story-sharing sections, and group video call spaces. A single server can host up
to 500,000 members and 500 channels organized into 50 categories.
3. As of September,
the platform has about 200 million monthly users, who collectively spend
around 1.9 billion hours on it.
4. Discord’s market value
is estimated at $5 billion, and it is expected to become a strong
competitor in the social media industry over the next few years—especially
after its growing prominence during recent global protests—surpassing 250
million users worldwide, according to recent data.
5. Vishnevskiy,
one of the founders, has extensive experience in software engineering, game
development, and network application design, and previously founded Guildwork,
a social network for gamers.
The second founder and current CEO, Jason Citron, is an entrepreneur
and software developer specializing in communication tools for digital
communities. He also founded OpenFeint, a mobile social gaming platform.
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