Kathmandu, 14 Sep: Discord is a name that has been heard many times during the two-day Gen Z movement. Now, memes are also circulating on social media saying, ‘Choosing the Prime Minister from Discord, writing the Constitution from ChatGPT.’
On Bhadra 25 (10 Sep), the youths discussed issues such as how to move forward for the new government? Whose representative should go to negotiate with the army? at Youth Against Corruption. Some media outlets in Nepal gave great importance to this and even broadcast it live.
In particular, the discussions in the early stages of the Gen Z movement took place on Discord servers.
Discord is a new platform in Nepal, where social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Viber are popular. However, Discord has now risen to ninth place among the most downloaded apps on the Google Play Store from Nepal.
Meanwhile, looking at the web search trends for the last week through Google Trends, it seems that searches for Discord have increased dramatically. People are mostly searching for Discord using keywords like Gen Z Discord, Gen Z Discord Nepal, Gen Z Discord Link, and Hami Nepal.
What is Discord that has played a role in causing so much stir in Nepal? How was it created? What is so special about it?
It was 2015. Two young American entrepreneurs, Jason Citron and Stanislav Wisniewski, launched a platform – Discord.
The hidden clue in the name
The English word Discord means ‘discordant voice’ or ‘disagreement’. But Jason and Stan tried to take the word in a positive sense. And from the very beginning, they urged users to do the same.
They say that Discord provides an opportunity to unite dissenting voices and create new communities. And, in fact, Discord is uniting users through dissent and diversity through a shared chat platform. An example of this is the Gen Z movement.
Discord initially became popular within the gaming community. Players of online games like League of Legends and World of Warcraft would open a server (a group in simple terms) and invite their friends to it. That’s why millions of users soon joined Discord.
Since many people could join the server, the scope of Discord was not limited to games. Students started forming study groups. Artists started using Discord to showcase their work. People in the tech field started using it to discuss coding and new inventions.
This app became widespread after the Covid pandemic. Because it was difficult to physically gather at that time. That’s why Discord became the platform for online meetings, workshops, and events.
Brief discussion of the founder
Born in the United States on September 21, 1984, Jason was in the app development field before creating Discord. Before Discord, he created a social network-like platform for mobile games called OpenFint in 2009.
He founded the game development studio Hammer & Chisel in 2012. He recently stepped down as CEO of Discord, but remains involved with the company.
Similarly, Stanislav, another founder of Discord, is also a technical genius. Because his main role in Discord was on the technical side. He did the core engineering and design of the app.
Server and channel
After opening an account on the app via email, any user can create their own ‘server’. Within that server, separate voice, text, or video channels can be created. This makes it easier to discuss topics. To use a metaphor, Discord is a big house, and the different channels are rooms.
Quality voice chat
Discord’s unique technology is that it has no lag (slow response). Even if it’s low, it’s very low. This feature is very important for gaming or meetings. Even if there is a lag of just a millisecond, it makes a big difference in the game.
Video and screen sharing
Discord is lag-free, making it easy to not only chat but also do other things. You can also use it to show your screen, present a project, or enjoy watching a movie.
Free and premium options
Discord has two account options: free and premium. The free account is sufficient for basic use. But the premium account, also known as ‘Discord Nitro’ in the app, offers a variety of emojis, the ability to send large files, and the ability to send/receive high-resolution videos.
