Understanding Discord

April 4, 2022

Three years ago, the idea of Gucci and the NBA, championing Discord would’ve prompted two questions. 


What’s Discord, and why are they using it? 


The simple answer is the pandemic, but the story of Discord and its rise from a gamer-centric chat app to the platform of choice for such renowned brands is much deeper than that. It is rooted in the Discord's innovative and attractive technology paired with its ability to foster rich online communities. 


For some background information, Discord is a chat room app similar to that of Skype or Slack where users can communicate in real time via text, voice, and/or streaming. Created for and popularized by gamers, the site rose to prominence due to its ease of use, multiple chat options, and versatility.

All communication on Discord is facilitated through servers with each server being divided into channels. Channels are smaller, more individualized spaces within the server that allow members to discuss specific topics. Discord also offers its users the ability to customize their servers in a number of ways such as the assignment of member roles and rewards based on activity. 


The highly collaborative yet individualized nature of Discord was almost immediately realized to work just as well without the gaming and was quickly used for non-gaming purposes. 


While other communities were rising on the platform, Discord was still a platform made by and for gamers. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic started in early 2020, the chat app saw a massive influx of users. The pandemic redefined what Discord was, who their audience was, and kicked off a major transitional period for the company. No longer was it "Chat for Gamers" but now "Chat for Communities and Friends." 


However, as Discord entered the mainstream its lesser-known culture came with it as well, such as the prominence of the NFT (non-fungible token) community. For those unfamiliar with NFTs, they are defined as “...tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items…letting us tokenize things like art, collectibles, even real estate.”


To draw a parallel, many within the NFT community view their tokens in the same light as trading card collectors view their cards. Just as one collects and shows off their trading cards to feel a sense of belonging and connect with others within the community, NFT owners do the same. 

The trading card analogy is significant because one of the most popular current NFT projects is sourced and run by the NBA. Heavily inspired by trading card counterparts, their NFT project, Top Shot, allows basketball and NFT fans alike to own some of their favorite NBA 'Moments’ in short-form video NFTs. With a current valuation of over $7.5 billion and robust support from NFT collectors, Top Shot chose Discord as their primary means of communication with their audience. 


Their server currently hosts over 223,000 members (tens of thousands online at any moment) and countless resources to help ‘rookies’ and vets alike. Most importantly, it affords their world-wide community a platform to unite on and connect regarding their shared interests. In providing this open forum for connecting and learning, the server has proven to be fundamental in developing what Top Shot and their community are. 


Offering collectibles, forging an entirely new market, and cultivating a community is only a taste of how companies can utilize Discord. 


In January of this year, Gucci launched its Vault project, as well as a corresponding Discord server of the same name to gather feedback and foster ideas. Vault represents Gucci’s presence in the metaverse by playing host to a series of crypto-based projects and physical merchandising highlighted by their online exclusivity. 


The Discord server is not used to push sales for these new projects, but rather to grow their own unique culture within the metaverse. Fan involvement is vital, with Gucci going so far as employing the most active members of the Discord community to serve as moderators. As Laurent Francois of medium puts, “It is an exercise at the crossroads of PR, content marketing, operations, branding, product development, finance etc.” It is a very complex and forward-thinking project that should be explored, but only through Discord could such an experiment be undertaken. Its unique abilities in comparison to traditional social media allow for its members to feel a real sense of inclusivity found seldom outside the internet. 


So, what does this all mean?


As we shift towards more interactive Web 3 technologies, such as the metaverse, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs, we should realize they all have a common thread. Each has a unique history and lineage within gaming culture. As we become an increasingly online culture, it’s no surprise we are taking inspiration for our technology from the community who was online “before it was cool.” Discord started as a hub for gamers, the first glimpses of the metaverse were seen in 2003 with ‘Second Life’, and gamers have long been buying virtual items with virtual currencies. This isn’t to say every advancement in gaming technology will be how you will access Facebook in the future, but it provides a unique view into the potential of what’s to come.

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