Building a community isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation, especially if you’re in it for the long haul. Discord is great for real-time chat, but that's really all its designed to do. Even their 'forum' bolt on is poor. A forum is simply a better fit for a community, especially if organisation, customisation and accessibility is important to you. Here are a few reasons why:

 

Long-Term Community Building

 

If you’re aiming to create a place where members can connect, contribute, and revisit important discussions without everything vanishing into the chat history, a forum is the answer. Forums let conversations stick around for future members to find and join in, keeping your community active and accessible for the long run. Plus, this makes it easier for people to discover the forum through search engines, bringing in fresh perspectives and keeping the place alive.

 

Deeper Discussions for Niche or Complex Topics

 

When it comes to niche interests or topics that need more than a passing comment, forums really shine. Whether it's guides, strategies, or in-depth Q&As, forums provide the space to dig into what matters without it getting buried. It’s also a huge win for SEO. Discord's invite system means the content is not searchable on Google et al. Forums are far superior in advertising your content - for free!

 

Transparent, Searchable Updates

 

If you’re looking to keep a record of updates, patch notes, or just a running timeline of your project, forums are the best bet. You get a space where members can easily find what’s going on, and you don’t have to worry about them scrolling through endless chat history. Plus, it helps build trust and creates an organized hub for updates that search engines love to index.

 

Best of Both Worlds: Using a Forum with Discord

 

For real-time interaction, Discord still has its perks. But pairing it with a forum gives you the best of both worlds: the immediacy of live chat plus the structured, searchable space of a forum. This way, you can keep things dynamic without sacrificing the benefits of long-term community building.

 

No one ever said that running a forum was easy, especially in today's social media world, but the extra work and investment can really pay off over the quick win of sticking a Discord server up. Can anyone suggest any additional concerns? Or maybe a set of circumstances where Discord would be better?

Is Discord something you can self-host or is it just rented space?

 

If just rented space, that would be my main reason for choosing a forum over it.

Is Discord something you can self-host or is it just rented space?

 

If just rented space, that would be my main reason for choosing a forum over it.

Discord is a private/open service that you to freely create a server within the service. You don't have any access to the behind-the-scenes stuff, except for general admin options.

 

Discord is essentially a black hole of knowledge, you put stuff in and the rest of the world has no access to it unless they become part of your Discord server.

You can build your communities on multiple social media platforms, and Discord is not the only one where you can build your community. However, when you use someone else's website to build your community, you do not have any control, let alone your ownership. When you run a self hosted community, you have full control and you can run it the way you want.

Is Discord something you can self-host or is it just rented space?

A good analogy of Discord would be Proboards vs. IRC (the old chat system).

 

You don't really own it (maybe you do and they let you export it, I'm not entirely sure with free forum hosting services) and it has trendy features that the latter you wouldn't have even conceived of at the time.

It would be interesting to see if you could export Discord data, but I doubt it. You'd have account details for Discord members as part of your data, and as we have been discussing here, there are probably some legal ramifications involved.

It would be interesting to see if you could export Discord data, but I doubt it. You'd have account details for Discord members as part of your data, and as we have been discussing here, there are probably some legal ramifications involved.

I know from watching YouTube commentary videos on controversial people that there are ways to scrape entire servers just to pull it out as (unofficial) evidence after the server is taken down.

 

Unofficial in parenthesis because I'm sure if it were a legal matter, you'd probably have to subpoena Discord for the official transcripts.

 

What you're allowed to do with scraped data is beyond my knowledge though. It could be ownership of Discord in full. I'm not going to bother to sift through 100 pages of ToS to confirm that, but that's more likely than not the case.

Unofficial in parenthesis because I'm sure if it were a legal matter, you'd probably have to subpoena Discord for the official transcripts.

If companies like Meta are any indicator, getting access to their data is next to impossible unless you’re dealing with a critical, ongoing crime. From my professional experience, Facebook won’t consider releasing user data unless it’s linked to something like an active kidnapping or a homicide investigation. Anything less serious—fraud, harassment, minor offenses—hits a wall, and they won’t budge.

 

This isn’t just Facebook playing hardball; it’s the same across many tech companies. They’ve built significant barriers around user data, driven by a mix of privacy laws, legal liabilities, and the massive risks associated with data breaches or leaks. For them, protecting user privacy isn't just a legal formality—it’s foundational to their business model. Handing over data without a pressing reason would risk lawsuits, public backlash, and even government fines. So, while it can be frustrating from a law enforcement or investigative standpoint, these policies are deeply rooted in ensuring compliance with data protection laws and maintaining user trust.

All I know is there are sites like Spokeo and other people search websites where bots scrape your data from webpages to put into their database and full access is generally granted upon payment. I've searched my full name and other personal details on Google before to have these types of sites pop up with my personal information. They generally list your primary family relations in your results. I'm pretty sure Facebook gets scraped for personal data constantly to be placed on these websites. This is why you must be very careful about what sites you share your personal information online. I'm sure social media is the primary target for these bots to scrape the web for users' personal information.

 

With today's internet technology, privacy is a thing of the past.

With today's internet technology, privacy is a thing of the past.

Perhaps this is the reason why people have become so fiercely protective of their personal data. Too much data scraping going on. I have never been overly protective of my data. I thought maybe it is time to start but I suppose that once your information is out there, it's probably too late.

Perhaps this is the reason why people have become so fiercely protective of their personal data. Too much data scraping going on. I have never been overly protective of my data. I thought maybe it is time to start but I suppose that once your information is out there, it's probably too late.

Yes, it's very hard to undo what has already been done regarding data scraping. Most people search engines allow you to remove your data, but you usually have to go to great lengths to prove it is you.

Yes, it's very hard to undo what has already been done regarding data scraping. Most people search engines allow you to remove your data, but you usually have to go to great lengths to prove it is you.

Seems like I'm not the only one who wants to stay private online:

[HEADING=2]Half of Americans want the internet to forget about them – but they don't know how[/HEADING]

People are increasingly worried about their privacy and seek more control, a new research reveals

 

More and more people want the internet to forget about them. This sentiment is especially strong in the US where almost half of internet users would like to be removed from the web. However, most of them don't know how.

 

This is the main finding unveiled by a joint investigation recently carried out by one of the best VPN providers around, NordVPN, and personal data removal company Incogni. Worse still, the global percentage of people worried about their personal data rose from 30% in 2022 to 35% this year.

 

"The shift in people’s attitude and their increasing need to delete their presence from the internet highlights a trend: people are no longer passively accepting the idea that their data should live on the internet forever," said Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN.

[HEADING=2]152 million Americans want to delete themselves from the web[/HEADING]

Under NordVPN and Incogni's commission, researchers at Cint surveyed a total of 6,800 respondents aged 18 years old and older from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. Unsurprisingly, Americans came out as the most worried, with Canadians following suit.

 

Almost half of the people in the US (48% of respondents) feel used by companies that collect, sell, or use their data to benefit third parties. This is the main reason why Americans want their personal information removed from the internet. At the same time, they are also worried that someone will eventually hack their devices to steal their sensitive data.

 

Most American respondents (40%) agree that their names shouldn't be online, either, while 41% expressed a lack of trust in the internet, and one-fifth fear manipulation by third parties.

 

Financial information tops the list as the data category people in the US are most keen to erase (64%). This is followed by a third of respondents seeking to remove their old dating/social media profiles and others (31%) eager to clean up embarrassing moments uploaded to social media. Medical history (38%) and dating/sex details (31%) also feature as data sets that Americans would prefer to keep offline.

 

Despite all these concerns, though, almost half of Americans (44%) said they don't know how to delete their sensitive information from the web. A third of respondents would be willing to spend up to $100 to browse anonymously at all times – and 5% claimed that they'd pay up to $1000.

 

While a few states including California, Colorado, and Connecticut passed their own privacy laws, the US still lacks comprehensive data protection legislation on a federal level. This research is a stark reminder that citizens, however, have different needs.

 

"There is a growing demand for control, empowerment, and the right to be forgotten," said Briedis.

[HEADING=2]How to protect your privacy on the internet[/HEADING]

A federal privacy law might not be here yet, but there are still some steps you can take to protect your data every time you browse the web.

 

As a rule of thumb, Briedis suggests limiting what you share online as much as possible. You should be mindful of the posts you share on social media, for example, and ensure that you're not giving away sensitive details by mistake. You should also consider adjusting your social media settings to make your account private.

 

Using a VPN is also an important step to reclaiming control over your data. A VPN, short for virtual private network, is security software that encrypts your internet connection to prevent third parties from tracking your online activities. It also spoofs your real IP address location for better security. NordVPN is our top pick at the time of writing, followed by Surfshark and ExpressVPN.

 

Anonymity is no longer a luxury but a necessity

 

Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN

 

You should also protect your account security at all times. Briedis recommends using strong passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to your accounts. I also suggest checking out handy password manager solutions to help keep track of all your login details.

 

Lastly, delete your info from data broker databases. These companies collect your data, use it to build personalized profiles, and inundate you with targeted ads – then, they'll sell it all to anyone willing to pay. While you could remove your data yourself, I recommend subscribing to a data removal service like Incogni, where the team will handle all the required processes for you.

 

All in all, as Briedis pointed out, anonymity is quickly becoming a necessity – not a luxury. He said: "People want to browse the internet without leaving traces, free from tracking and profiling. Looking ahead, the internet will evolve to resolve these privacy concerns. The next generation of users will push both technology providers and policymakers to rethink how personal data is handled online."

 

Source: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/half-of-americans-want-the-internet-to-forget-about-them-but-they-dont-know-how

I'm not a fan of Discord, but I use it because they're people I talk to on Discord for my forum/business. I don't have a server set up for my community, or plan on creating one.

I'm not a fan of Discord, but I use it.

And therein lies the problem. Even people who don't like it are using it because it's almost become essential for anyone trying to exist in the online space.

 

As of 2024, Discord has around 200 million monthly active users globally. Additionally, it has more than 614 million registered accounts. The platform has continued to grow since its launch, maintaining its strong appeal for both gaming and non-gaming communities, especially among younger users like Millennials and Gen Z, who primarily use Discord to connect over shared interests and hobbies. It's appealing to anyone who wants to do anything online as there is already an audience. But it's far from perfect.

once your information is out there, it's probably too late.

The internet is forever. Your information might not surface on Google or on the first search, but you can trust that if it ever existed on the internet, there is a significant chance it is lying in a database somewhere and at least one person knows how to retrieve it.

I think discord can be a good idea however, I do believe it can also hinder your forum because people will be more motivated to be messaging on Discord than to be posting on the forum. I personally wouldn't want to have a Discord for my community though I do have a chatbox on the forum.