Kaj

I gave Discord 10 years of my life. Now, we all need to start leaving. I've been using Discord since I was 16 — it'll be 10 years this year. I've never cancelled my Discord Nitro since June 2017, and I've paid €5, then €10 every single month until today. I became a member of the Discord HypeSquad Online as early as August 2017, then, when the program closed and was replaced by the 3-House HypeSquad test — which has now completely disappeared since summer 2025 — I joined Discord HypeSquad Events in 2019. Back then, you had to film a video to introduce yourself, explain your projects, what Discord had brought to your life. I did it with so much enthusiasm — I was proud to represent this software that had given me a social life for the very first time! In 2022, I became a Discord Partner. I was one of the last Discord Partners to be accepted before the program was permanently shut down. I remember the joy I felt that day. It was the ultimate achievement! My first application dated back to December 2017, and at the time, Aspekt — I have no idea what became of him — told me that the Partnership was reserved for gaming communities. After yet another rejection, I was so sad that he gave me a t-shirt to comfort me (see the screenshot!). Everything changed with COVID. Discord wanted to become a platform for everyone, not just gamers. I was really excited about this shift — at the time, I was running a community about autism! In November 2022, I happily attended a meetup for French-speaking Discord Partners on the sidelines of Paris Games Week! That's where I met Discord staff for the first time: Mindy & Eva. I had nowhere to sleep that night, I'd come from far away, I didn't want to miss the event for anything in the world, so they paid for a night in a luxury hotel for me. It was insane — I cried tears of joy. That's the last good memory I have with Discord. After that, everything slowly but surely started to fall apart. The programs closed one after another. HypeSquad Events, Partner, then Verified. The hiatus remained indefinite, then the servers were deleted or archived. Every time, they promised us it was temporary, yet we could clearly see that one by one, all the Discord staff in charge of community projects were being laid off. It started with Mallory's departure. Discord lost one of its most popular staff members, and it ended with Quikblend's layoff. Names you all know if you were even slightly involved in the scene between 2017 and 2024. As you've probably gathered, I had a genuine autistic obsession with Discord. I still regularly wear my Partner hoodie, I proudly display the figurine given to all Partners — the last gift Discord ever gave its community program at Christmas 2023. Discord was THE PLACE TO BE. The team truly listened to us, there was a real sense of equality between the community and its representatives. I've lost count of how many community projects brought us all together. Never had a social platform managed to be so much on the side of its users. And now, everything has changed. None of this happened overnight. Over the years, Discord was taken over. By whom, why, I don't know. I didn't look into it. They started force-feeding us Nitro ads, moderation became opaque, with no contact whatsoever possible with the Trust & Safety team anymore. Discord's 10th anniversary was, and I'm not joking, one of the most anticlimactic events in History. I have better memories of the 7th anniversary than the 10th! And then advertising arrived in the form of Quests. And then the cosmetics shop, name plates, avatar decoration. And as if that wasn't enough, to really milk us like cash cows, gradient colors and server guilds require additional boosts to be used. And there I am, like an idiot, still buying. I'm sorry to put it this way, but everything has turned to shit. The nail in the coffin for me was the announcement of mandatory age verification for everyone. Even though, in theory, I wouldn't be affected — having recently received a message from Discord saying I'd been placed in the adults group — I am disgusted by this ultimate betrayal, this umpteenth spit in the face of a community whose staff was once closer than ever. Discord holds a monopoly on instant messaging. After climbing the ranks, overcoming adversity, burying its competitors, Discord did what every company in its position has done: enshittification. I don't blame them for everything. I understand that the internet bubble born from COVID burst, that spending cuts had to be drastic, but in the meantime, something changed at Discord. A Reddit user was already warning in 2024 about deteriorating working conditions, and you can find plenty of testimonies on Glassdoor. They haven't been on our side for a long time, and if I needed one last piece of proof to convince myself, here it is. Palantir, Peter Thiel, the Epstein Files. This post is already long enough without me adding more — do your own research, it's vomit-inducing. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm now actively looking for an alternative to Discord. The transition won't happen overnight, and since my social life is still essentially on this platform, it'll take me months, maybe 1 to 2 years, but I'm going to leave this app, and I fully intend to take my entire community with me. Discord has had its time, and from now on, I'm calling for the emergence of an alternative with its own identity, one capable of going back to the roots of what made Discord successful in the first place. The fact is that Discord is now incapable, in every regard, of embodying that.I am so, so disappointed. These memories only live in my head now. Now, we all need to start leaving. They really ruined everything.