Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out

[woozle@toot.cat]

@PandaCab

I have to disagree, then; I've been actively searching for alternatives for years now, and so far the only two remotely viable candidates have been the ones I mentioned (Revolt and Matrix), which both have obstacles to adoption.

(Not insurmountable; just not as easy as, say, switching from Slack to Discord was.)

@feorag @netskaven @verge

[alextecplayz@techhub.social]

@gerenuk @verge "only adult content will be locked behind a verification wall, which isn’t something bad I think"

A noble idea, but the execution is abysmal, because lawmakers are lobbied by right-wing, conservative groups like the EPP (EU) and bi-partisan bills such as KOSA to basically implement a blunt tool, a sledgehammer, where only a hammer is needed. Everyone is looking for a magical solution to this that is unhackable, unbreachable, safe, secure, etc.

But the solution just isn't sending your ID to third-party for-profit companies around the world, which then at the some point end up in the hands of advertisers and hackers.

EDRi has a great article on the pitfalls and actual solutions that we can implement instead of this digital age verification bullshit: https://edri.org/our-work/age-verification-gains-traction-eu-risks-failing-to-address-the-root-causes-of-online-harm/

[pandacab@ni.hil.ist]

@woozle

I found at least 4, with various degrees of similitudes with discord.

Also, I have to point out the very obvious: you won't be able to leave discord and get the same thing. I know it is silly to point out, but in my experience, it is hard to really internalise for many.

@feorag @netskaven @verge

[flamekebab@toot.wales]

@verge amazing. Hopefully this'll help kill the shitey thing off as people's go-to platform. Horrible place.

[woozle@toot.cat]

@PandaCab

Nobody's asking for identical; just similar-enough (...like Discord vs. Slack)

What are the 4(+) you found?

@feorag @netskaven @verge

[nullware@mastodon.social]

@verge I'll jump ship when the pop-up appears for this. We've already seen enough nonsense that shows how harmful this can be.

Unfortunately, moving on from these non-federated platforms is such a pain since you gotta either force people to move with you or forego that contact.

[pandacab@ni.hil.ist]

@woozle

I have to ask: what if there is nothing similar? This is what I mean by "not get the same thing".

I still have to try them but the alternatives I found (again, to be fair, I haven't tried yet) pumble, guilded, rocket.chat and mattermost.

@feorag @netskaven @verge

[woozle@toot.cat]

@PandaCab

Somewhere I typed up a list of my requirements (I can't speak for everyone); I'll have to dig that up..

Revolt does actually meet them all, afaict; the only obstacles are logistical/strategic.

I'm familiar(ish) with RocketChat and Mattermost, but was underwhelmed; I'll have to investigate the other two (thanks for the leads!).

@feorag @netskaven @verge

[kriom@framapiaf.org]

@verge Discord self-destructs

[intelgraphy@infosec.exchange]

@verge Wooow... I'd have to jump ship soon then.

[azninsect@kind.social]

@verge strange optics considering they got hacked and this data got leaked for their UK users

[hackillu@mas.to]

@verge What?! Why do they always want an ID? Why can't they tell people to go to the DMV for once? Can't they at least make the surveillance inconvenient?

[inchulk@mastodon.green]

@verge I rarely use Discord, and don't like it much, so no loss when I cancel my membership.

[darryl_ramm@hachyderm.io]

@verge

Discord can fuck off.

[tobu@fosstodon.org]

@gerenuk @verge
Hacks aside, DHS/ICE/other arms of a fascist state will be able to tie community membership to identities more easily, over time this can lead to China style control over dissenting speech.
But even before that happens, Project 2025 just wants to treat LGBTQ communities/topics as adult only. Without decentralised, easily self hosted, numerous alternatives to discord, these vulnerable groups get the double whammy of being doxxed and of rejecting younglings that need them.

[sheislaurence@mastodon.social]

@verge @Bellingcat what's going to happen to your community then?

[fuzz_ra@kind.social]

@verge

It's just as well I'd rather drink a pint of hot and chunky sick than use discord.

Putting useful stuff in a members-only corporate silo is the action of a thoughtless moron and I'm not going to join the lunacy.

Also, I really don't need yet another account for yet another thing I hate.

[fuzz_ra@kind.social]

@nqd @verge

I get what you're saying but the whole "normie" assumption tends to be what gets in the way. We've all seen the big posters on various Linux forums who should have been banned years ago because they're militantly unwilling to actually help.

Some of my favourite people are former clients who graduated from needing to buy my services to keep their PC running. I feel warmly smug about explaining what I was doing to them well.

[fuzz_ra@kind.social]

@ninafelwitch @verge

IRC and a small forum work pretty well, too. I mean, chatting alongside a stream is IRC in a trench coat.

[bmebenji@mstdn.social]

@verge It’s a shame that #Discord is going away. Oh well. I haven’t really been using it anyway