Discord is a social media app where people interested in digital art can talk to each other. When you start a Discord channel for a particular topic, you’re helping to connect people who are interested in that topic.
At one point, some people thought that the NFT bubble would continue to grow, but that turned out not to be the case.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are becoming more popular, and people are talking about them a lot on Discord. This is because Discord is a more multifaceted platform than Twitter or Instagram, which are more commonly used in the traditional art world.
Discord, which doubled in membership in the pandemic, allows a group of users to build their own community “server,” which can be public (anyone can join) or private (invite-only). Each server hosts its own unique spread of chaotic, always-on channels on different topics, like who’s going to Art Basel or the odd artist shilling their NFTs. Often, there’s a meme channel (these days, filled with self-deprecating GIFs of crypto-apocalyptic losses). In the morning (depending where you are), users greet each other daily. “Gm” (meaning “good morning”) is the universal Web3 greeting on Discord, where time zones are an irrelevant nuisance and friendly brevity is of the essence.
“It’s like 24/7 communication, it’s very fast,” said Joe Kennedy, founder of Mayfair art gallery Unit London, who made Discord part of his strategy in May 2021 to build a community “outside of the traditional collecting spheres.” Now, the gallery uses its server to announce artist collaborations, and issue statements on artist royalties. “There’s a good network effect,” he said. “We’ve met lots of new collectors we wouldn’t have access to otherwise.” With its busy, unfamiliar interface, Discord appeals more to those that work in tech, he noted. “They’re in their 40s, and tend to be a bit more open-minded,” he said. These collectors might not even use Instagram, he noted, and would be more comfortable on Reddit or Twitter.
The gallery is focusing on small sales through their marketplace, Unit London Web3, this year. Discord is doing well working with large editions, which the gallery plans to do next year. ” Discord is a much more beneficial platform if there’s lots of people who are invested in a project ,” said Kennedy.
Caroline Busta, one of the creators of New Models, said that their Discord channel was started by their community in 2019 because they were unhappy with just commenting on New Models’ content. “A lot of people were already into Discord and they helped us get started,” she said. “We were like, ‘Why not?'” Then, in spring 2021, the crypto boom happened, and a lot of people suddenly joined the Discord channel, looking for trading tips.
Many people are worried about the future of Discord because of the recent NFT bubble and crypto winter. Some people think the app isn’t worth fighting for anymore.
A New Kind of Club House
Discord is a messaging app that is popular with people who like to talk about art and other things. Discord has a feature where you can create “channels” where only people who own a certain type of digital asset can join. For example, one channel might be for people who own Bitcoin. There is also a server called “Friends with Benefits” that is only for people who have a certain number of digital assets. Discord founder Jason Citron said on Twitter that Discord is planning to add more cryptocurrency-related features in the future. Discord also has a feature where it will let you join servers that are only for people who have a certain type of digital asset. For example, one server might be for people who own Bitcoin.
Discord is like a messaging program, but it’s for people who are into gaming. It’s been around for a while, but it’s not as popular as Slack because it’s a little different. Some people don’t like it because it’s a little different, but others like it because it’s gamer-friendly. Discord is good for projects that are focused on web3, a version of the internet that is decentralized, blockchain-built, and token-based.
Some people who were interested in cryptocurrencies and the web3 blockchain in the early days of those things were also very into video gaming. Discord was the app of choice for these people because it was a great way to collaborate and socialize.
Enter the Noobs
During the early months of the pandemic, many people turned to voice-chatting apps like Discord to communicate with each other. Discord became especially popular because it is a platform that allows users to communicate with each other easily and privately. Justin Aversano set up a Discord server for his collectors, and now it is one of the most popular servers on the platform.
More traditional industry players followed the trend of creative people like Aversano, and this is why they’re doing well.
König Galerie set up a digital marketplace called Misa.art, which is now rebranded as Expanded Art. They also created a Discord server to keep members of the community connected.
Pace Verso, a part of the large art gallery Pace, launched their Discord server in March this year with the goal of connecting directly with the community of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) outside of Pace’s orbit.
Discord is a platform that is used for communicating with other users. The Pace spokesperson said that the Discord had been very successful and they are creating a new communications role at Pace Verso specifically to manage and strategize the platform.
A Shifting Tide
Pace is not moving as fast as other cryptocurrencies in the market, which may be why there has been a decrease in the number of people using Discord.
In September 2021, there were a lot of “GM”s (short for “genetically modified”) every day on Unit Gallery’s Discord server, but now they happen less often. People haven’t been using Discord as much lately because all the excitement around GMs (genetically modified things) in 2021 has died down. Most of the artist’s works now are sold to NFT funds or DAOs, so the Discord server isn’t as important as it used to be. “There really is no conversation when the art ends up in the final place for it to be,” the artist said.
Levy from RefractionDAO said that he thinks that many artists are getting tired of using the platform, while there’s no sign that traditional collectors are joining in. He explained that this is because for collectors, buying paintings and sculptures is seen as tiring and time-consuming.
Discord is not very good at protecting people’s digital assets, and this has led to hackers getting a lot of money from people who use Discord servers to chat about things like cryptocurrency. Three separate incidents in the past few months have caused a lot of problems for Discord, because people who were hacked ended up losing a lot of money. Gordon Goner, one of the co-founders of BAYC, said in a tweet that Discord is not good enough for online communities and that we need a platform that is more secure.
BAYC co-founder Greg Solano (also known as Garga) says that scams are happening in the crypto world and that relying on a platform that someone else controls can be a little scary. So, BAYC has created a special verification system for announcements that it makes itself.
Levy said they’re starting to hold “Town Hall” meetings on Twitter instead. A new app called Friends with Benefits has been developed that will act as Discord for their members. Even the CryptoPunks Discord channel, which was where Justin Aversano was convinced of the platform’s community utility, has now fractured. That conversation is now happening on a Telegram group started by members of the community.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum were doing very well recently, and because of that, some people decided to learn more about how Discord’s complicated token system works. But Busta from New Models says that I don’t think that’s going to happen anymore.
Some people have suggested that Discord might be a good replacement for Twitter because it encourages communities that stay separate from each other. However, Twitter doesn’t provide a public space where people can communicate with each other easily. Web3 may hold the answer to this problem, but Discord alone can’t yet solve it.
The art community is always looking for ways to connect with each other. This is because the industry is always changing, and communities form very quickly in this type of business.
