Discord have announced that beginning in March, they're starting a global rollout of forced age verification to access all features of the platform.
      • ExcursionInversion@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 days ago

        Cool. Once they get the verification emails going again I’ll check it out. Discord has been causing GPU crashes for me lately, hopefully stoat doesn’t.

        • TheSlad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          I had problems with the desktop app fyi. But i run multiple accounts across many services so i recently started using Ferdium, which runs web apps in containerized sandboxes. Its very useful for managing multiple accounts on the same service. Ferdium also has the option to work completely locally with no account needed. It is very nice.

  • commander@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    I know Element sucks compared to Discord but with more users and potential funding interest from that user base growth, it can get a lot better and snowball to fast improvements. Blender was the butt of jokes until version 2.8. Like 15 years of being easily dismissed as major commercial production worthy. Element can get better. It’s the story of pretty much all the well regarded general consumer targeted open source software we use today

    • jaselle@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      I feel like Matrix already hit the “elbow point” where it’s getting good fast. It’s very usable, I have ~10 contacts I regularly communicate with on Matrix.

    • who@feddit.orgEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      I know Element sucks compared to Discord

      Only if you don’t care at all about privacy, agency, or continued access to your communities regardless of corporate whims.

      Element can get better.

      Yes, as can other Matrix clients, and the network itself. And they are. :)

    • iamthetot@piefed.caEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Also cancelled mine. I don’t suspect this change will actually directly affect me personally, but it’s the final straw on a big pile of straw. I know plenty of people here will admonish those of us that were paying for it in the first place, but better late than never I say.

      Not entirely sure what I’m going to transition my group to. It’s quite likely we won’t actually have one replacement, but many. We used text, voice, video, and screensharing on Discord (plus many other, though less important features). I don’t know of an alternative that does all of it.

      • Pheta@fedia.io
        0·
        8 days ago

        I’m not sure about what you mean by video (using cameras, or posting videos) But I did check out Teamspeak, as I used to use it a long time ago, and it’s a nice medium between ease of use products like discord and security minded folks who use things like Matrix.

        Either way, Teamspeak did add screen sharing, and the cost to host a server is about the price of a nitro sub. That’s if you don’t self host, which is always an option and makes things free.

        It’s probably going to be the best option to convince my friends to finally leave discord’s ecosystem. Haven’t liked it since they started adding in bs like quests and the shop, it’s only a matter of time before it enshittifies so bad my friend group will be looking for a way to jump ship.

  • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    I only have the app because a handful of people have asked to add me on it. I can’t recall the last time I actually opened it, let alone used it to talk to someone. Actually, I think the last time I used it was not for socializing, but to get support for a game mod. (For some reason, instead of having an FAQ page, the creator directed people to their Discord. I feel like that’s more annoying for the creator, answering the same questions individually over and over again instead of just having a webpage that users can read and find their own answers on. But, okay, if you wish.)

    Totally not worth the privacy invasion. Brb gonna take two seconds and delete the app from my phone.

    Edit: it is done

  • Auster@thebrainbin.org
    0·
    9 days ago

    For those that can’t (or at least for now won’t) self-host, any suggestions on medium-sized #Matrix servers?

    Or at least some database on those so users can check more easily, similar to the database sites for the ActivityPub?

    • who@feddit.orgEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Since you mentioned self-hosting, I guess you’re talking about Matrix homeservers. Some are listed here:

      https://matrix.org/ecosystem/hosting/

      (Note that what Discord calls a “server” is not what anyone else in the networking community calls a server; it’s a confusing misnomer. Matrix calls it a space, but calling it a community would be understood by most people as well. Also, what Discord calls a “channel” is what Matrix calls a room.)

  • towerful@programming.devEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    I think this is the a major step in discords plan to be a service to games (ie business-to-business).
    They are positioning themselves to be an age-verifying platform for games, alongside in-game chat, in-game VoIP, in-game store and game community.

    At some point, games are going to have to require age verification. It’s just the way the “protect the children” bullshit is going (instead of “enable the parents to raise their kids”, which is far to socialist and progressive) Or game shops will. But if you don’t sell your game, that bypasses game shops. And if cracks can bypass purchasing, then… It’s on the game to comply with laws.
    If there is in-game chat: needs age verification.
    If there is in-game voip: needs age verification.

    At some point, discord is going to roll out this massive suite of dev tooling that “just works” for devs creating multiplayer games with voip, chat, in-game purchases, gifting in-game purchases to friends, friends lists, out-of-game chat, game communities etc. while also offering age verification.
    It already does a lot of that.
    They are getting ahead of the age verification laws so they offer a very simple path for developers to “just pay discord” to skip a HUGE legal minefield, and get a bunch of functionality for whatever cut discord decides .

    • CidVicious@piefed.zipEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Discord’s filters are kind of infamously bad about what they detect as “adult content.” I, for one, will not be supplying an ID to anyone. They’ve already given me several compelling reasons not to to give them money, but it seems that this one finally pushed me over the edge.

    • superfes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      So, if I am not looking for adult content, and could not care less about getting PMs from people I don’t know, I don’t need to sub to this privacy nightmare?

    • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Which includes many of the wargaming, traditional art, and queer Discord servers my partner and I use. Never assume that when a bad actor says “adult content” they mean hardcore porn and snuff, they mean everything that doesn’t conform to their ideal christofascist ethnostate purity. And now they have a list of all the “dangerous” nonconformists while blocking everyone else from being exposed to “dangerous” ideas. This should chill people to the bone. Nobody should be okay with this anywhere, in any capacity, in any quantity, whatsoever.

        • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          Healthcare workers were prioritized for vaccination, locking them into the narrative early. Once you’ve taken the shot and pushed it on patients, your identity – professional judgment, ethics, self-image as a healer – hinges on its safety. The cost of admitting error becomes psychologically prohibitive.

          What the fuck did you link.

          [edit] So, if you follow links to Joshua Stylman’s substack, you can find this:

          Maybe it’s my algorithm, but the content was flooded with an unusual amount of vitriol directed at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination as HHS Secretary. […] talking heads across networks uniformly labeling him a “conspiracy theorist” and “danger to public health,” never once addressing his actual positions.

          Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m wasting my time on this. It’s just funny, I guess.

      • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@reddthat.comEnglish
        0·
        9 days ago

        Even if it is hardcore porn, that still doesn’t mean I’m going to give them an ID/pictures to verify who I am just so I can see the art people draw of ███████████████.

      • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        0·
        8 days ago

        Isn’t it only servers/channels marked as NSFW? If you don’t mark it as NSFW then it shouldn’t make any different to how it is now.

        Also it just detects things it can read. Stick it in a file format discord doesn’t understand, or link to an external site.

    • YesButActuallyMaybe@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Who doesnt love getting spearphisted by all these random girls on discord that send friend requests without ever talking to you?!

  • TheObviousSolution@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    What I don’t understand is, have these people never heard of OAuth? I don’t know what it is, we have decades of this and people act like it doesn’t exist and don’t see the value in it. Even Lemmy, try to suggest why it might be valuable to separate identity versus community hosting, it’s like you have to walk people through it step by step.

    There’s no way I’m giving platforms like this even more private information, but if governments put forth both publicly available OAuth servers along with the possibility of privately purchasable OAuth servers for this sort of thing, I would have no problem with it because then you have the possibility of vetting age authenticators like you would VPN providers, and the data would never leak into the social networks that abuse it. It’s like the regulators and the Internet has conveniently forgotten about OAuth and certificate authorities and has just said, “Yeah, let’s just have users leak their data all over for this” as if there were no better way. Maybe that’s the point, because I suspect organizations like Palantir will be quite happy at things like this.

    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 days ago

      They have and they don’t want it because it doesn’t give them access to everyone’s biometric data.

      I could see this coming a long way off with Discord. It’s a honey trap. They swallow entire communities whole like some gargantuan leviathan of antiquity.

  • 0xtero@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    IPO is clearly closing in fast. Enshittification intensifies. The VC’s need to get their ROI out so they can move to the next grift. Apparently they’re also going to have “age inference model that runs in the background” (read: AI) that pops in and hits your with that age verification if it determines you’re actually not acting like a teen.

  • Gyangrene@piefed.caEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    Trying to get my friend group to switch over to Stoat (formerly Revolt) as soon as possible – I think Matrix is a harder sell for people not already in the federated spaces, or non-tech savvy people, but I’m hoping it fits the need.

    • RamenJunkie@midwest.socialEnglish
      0·
      8 days ago

      Something is busted because I wanted tonregister, it said it would verify my email, the verification expired before I even got the email, hours later.

      • Gyangrene@piefed.caEnglish
        0·
        8 days ago

        From what I can gather, I think the Stoat team is likely experiencing insanely heavy and unexpected traffic to their platform, and their server is still trying to catch up - I am also running into the same problem, but I assume the team is working hard behind the scenes to get everyone in and stabilize the platform as soon as they can!

    • jaselle@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Stoat seems to be very early in development still. Matrix has gotten easier for non-technical users recently.

      • Gyangrene@piefed.caEnglish
        0·
        9 days ago

        Oh, for real? Thanks, I’ll check it out - appreciate it buddy!

        Edit: Just check it out, and it’s honestly got a alot (almost all) of the features I’m looking for, including a Canadian English language option. It sucks that it doesn’t seem to have custom roles/tags or custom emojis, but aside from that it being able to pin messages, have separate channels and voice rooms and being E2E encrypted are ticking the right boxes for me.