If you’re a parent, you should know that your children are likely among the more than 150 million people who use Discord each month. Discord’s meteoric rise to prominence has been driven largely by young adults who use the service to meet new people and bond through shared interests like video games, schoolwork, extracurricular activities like club meetings, and even more casual pursuits like singing karaoke or just hanging out.
A 15-year-old user named Tyler Jones summed up the platform’s attraction to his generation as follows: “It’s quick, it’s trustworthy, it’s easy to use, and it gives so many options, like video conferencing, screen sharing and presenting, and customizations, that other sites don’t have for free.”
Discord’s primary benefit is that it makes it easier for young people to interact with one another, especially during times when they wouldn’t be able to do so in person.
Jones stated, “I know a lot of young folks my age that struggle socially, especially in a time like today, and I’ve found Discord as a pleasant place to establish friends and stay up with them.”
If you’re curious about Discord, this article will teach you the fundamentals, including how to keep your children safe while they use it.
Discord: What Is It?
Users of the free service Discord can talk, text, video chat, and share their screens. The gaming community was an early adopter, but its versatility and user-friendliness have led to its adoption for a wide range of other purposes, such as hosting reading clubs, knitting groups, sewing circles, and other social and professional get-togethers.
What Sets Discord Apart From Comparable Networks?
Discord stands out from the crowd in large part because it does not contain any advertisements. Although Discord does provide a subscription that provides users with additional features, the company insists that it does not sell user data or share its data with third parties for advertising purposes. There is also no news feed, making it different from many social media sites.
In addition, users can interact with both public and private areas. Public servers (groups formed around a common interest) are open to anyone who happens to stumble across them; this means that anyone could potentially view anything your children publish there. Private servers, on the other hand, are restricted to invited users only, allowing your children to host their servers for friends and family.
In this way, Discord becomes a more custom-tailored service.
- Lexicon of Discord
The uninitiated may have a hard time navigating conflict. Thank goodness, there’s a glossary and a slew of tutorials for newcomers, such as Discord’s own, PCWorld’s, and a handbook written by M.I.T. students for use in group projects.
Possible phrases include:
Collaborative and social areas where users can access a server. Communities and groups of friends can create their servers, which can be open to anybody or invite-only. There is no cost to create a new server for any user.
Users can connect via text and audio channels, which are separated on servers. These tend to be narrower in focus and more topic-specific.
DMs stands for “direct messages” on Twitter. These are communications between two users that are not broadcast publicly. They can be sent in the form of text, audio, or video.
Group direct messages (or “GDMs” for short) Users can have private conversations with up to 10 other individuals when they invite them to it, even if direct messages are only between two people. Participants in a discussion must be invited before they can participate.
Is It Safe for Kids to Use Discord?
According to Discord’s terms of service, its U.S. users must be at least 13 years old. But, there are minors (under 13) who use Discord. The corporation has stated that it is working on a “gate” that will require users to voluntarily disclose their birth dates during the account creation process. If Discord learns that a user is under the age of 13, it will suspend their account until they can provide proof of age.
Teach your children early on not to misrepresent their age anywhere, including on Discord.
Can I Feel Assured That My Children Are Safe When Using Discord?
Your kid’s privacy settings will determine this. Your children will be able to receive private messages from other players once they join a server. While this is enabled by default, it can be turned off in the Privacy & Security section of your account settings (see more details below). You have the option of limiting friend requests to people your child already knows or to everyone on the service.
Users are encouraged by Discord to only accept buddy requests from persons they already know. Bear in mind that discord not connecting users are not obligated to use their true identities, so you may need to take an extra step to verify who is issuing the invite. The option to filter out inappropriate messages is also available. In the case that your children come into contact with an improper user, you can stop them from communicating with them directly and conceal their communications from other users on shared servers in the game Discord. Last but not least, you can set up an invite-only server where only people you or your kids know directly will be allowed to join.
Are There Any Adult Materials on Discord?
Discord, like any social media network where users make and share content, may include material that is unsuitable for young eyes. Servers hosting adult content are required to indicate that they are “age-restricted” per the platform’s community guidelines.
Recently, Discord amended its community guidelines to include a prohibition on damaging disinformation and the consideration of off-platform activity when determining whether or not a user has violated the guidelines. Discord claims this is ongoing maintenance to ensure user safety.
Companies and platforms that take measures to protect their users are to be commended, but there is no alternative for talking to your children about what to do if they come across improper material online. This is possible not only when they engage with Discord, but also when they utilize other social media.
Discord invests time and energy into monitoring and enforcing compliance with its principles across the network, and also provides training materials for users on how to moderate groups. The company publishes a Transparency Report every six months detailing the number of reports received, the reasons for the reports (harassment, spam, cybercrime, graphic content, etc.), and the team’s responses to these reports.
Discord invests time and energy into monitoring and enforcing compliance with its principles across the network, and also provides training materials for users on how to moderate groups. As such, it publishes a Transparency Report every six months detailing the number of users reported for violating community norms, the reasons for the reports (harassment, spam, cybercrime, graphic content, etc.), and the trust and safety team’s responses.
How can I promote the secure use of Discord by my children?
While Discord does provide some levels of protection and anonymity, it’s vital to keep in mind that your children, or anyone else with access to your account’s login information, can alter these settings at any moment. Discord stresses in its safety FAQ that it will not give out user login data to parents who want access to their children’s accounts. Thus, you’ll need to have your children give you access.
In addition to setting up filters, what more can parents do to keep tabs on their children’s Discord use?
Parents need to have an open dialogue with their children regarding their use of online services like social media and video games. A fantastic method to learn about the platform and how your kids are using it, as well as any possible concerns, is to show an interest by checking in with them frequently and asking them to share what they’re doing on Discord in a nonjudgmental way.
