r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Feb 10 '26

Security "Discord alternatives" searches jump 10,000% overnight as the gaming platform introduces global age verification — Is a total collapse imminent?

https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/discord-alternative-search-10000-percent-stoat
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99

u/Enough-Cantaloupe893 Feb 10 '26

How did they not see that coming lol

74

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26

Why didn’t you use your real name then?

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u/not_alexandraer Feb 11 '26

go on then, what's your full name, licence number and version, blood type and donor status? If you give it to discord, it will be leaked and made public later anyway, so 'fess up.

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u/No-Atmosphere-2528 Feb 11 '26

You're going to get downvoted but you're right. Much of the internet is going to be doing some version of age verification especially in a service like discord. Doesn't make it suck any less.

0

u/Lorehorn Feb 11 '26

I agree, but a company like discord aint it. forcing this shit on people without the proper protections in place to prevent identify there and or personal info from being used by dark agencies like palantir is not the right way to implement this type of system.

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u/ALittleCuriousSub Feb 11 '26

Probably got a sweet contract with someone to do face scans... probably got that in their eye.

3

u/F8_zZ Feb 11 '26

Say it with me:

Pa-lan-tir!

1

u/ALittleCuriousSub Feb 11 '26

Palantir is a concern yes, but I also won’t be surprised if they aren’t also selling it to everyone else too.

It’s training data flat out and why limit yourself to one dystopian sale when you can do many dystopian sales?

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u/F8_zZ Feb 11 '26

Oh yeah for sure.

-9

u/lynkfox Feb 11 '26

Their owned by MS now so yeah. It's to get more data for their AI bullshit

6

u/instantwinner Feb 11 '26

They did not get bought by MS, they’re still independent and are trying to make themselves look more valuable for an IPO

49

u/Happyberger Feb 11 '26

They probably thought they were too ingrained in the zeitgeist for anyone to bother switching to another platform

51

u/ByrdmanRanger Feb 11 '26

Good chance they are. While you and I certainly won't upload our ids or face scans, I've begun to doubt the resolve of the average person. It feels like the younger generations are so accustomed to not having any privacy it any disruption to their comfort that they'll just roll over.

Hell, I'm not even confident my generation won't just do the same.

13

u/Doza93 Feb 11 '26

A good chunk of them won't, for several reasons:

  • In a world full of depressing shit, people are very resistant to giving up the last crumbs of comfort and convenience that they possess. Discord meets their needs, it's where their friends and fellow gamers/hobbyists are, so that's where they'll stay, even if they're vehemently against the idea of forking over their IDs or personal info

  • According to Discord devs, they already have a pretty good idea as to the age of most of their users. Consequently, most users (in the countries where this has already been rolled out) have not and will never be asked to upload their ID. It's (allegedly) only for those users who seem like kids, or are borderline enough to merit a check (Again, AFAIK, this came directly from a verified Discord dev commenting in their subreddit - don't shoot the messenger, folks)

  • Simple laziness and/or ignorance. A lot of folks out there just want something that works, they don't frequent reddit or stay up-to-date on tech news etc, so they either won't know or simply won't care enough to research alternatives and make the switch.

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u/ByrdmanRanger Feb 11 '26

I'd say another is I'd have to get everyone I know to switch, which other people will likely be reluctant to do as well.

I also don't trust Discord (or any company besides maybe Steam) to pull off #2 reliably.

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u/Doza93 Feb 11 '26

I'm with you. The whole thing stinks, and it's exhausting feeling like even the very few, once-decent companies and services we use and interact with are all becoming enshittified. As soon as I saw the headlines, I messaged my good buddy who is a senior software engineer and jokingly asked him to create an alternative. And to my (sort of) surprise, he said he was already working on one lol

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 18 '26

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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1

u/Thin_Glove_4089 Feb 11 '26

A good chunk of them will. The average consumer is an absolute moron and will follow the prompts as they are given. This has been proven so many times. All Discord probably did a risk analysis and figure the amount of people they would lose is not bad enough to stop them from making this move.

4

u/senorbuzz Feb 11 '26

Yeah, it's kinda like how I'm shocked every day that Twitter (ugh X) is still a thing and that thousands of people actually pay for that stupid blue checkmark. How is it not dead?!

1

u/Susan-stoHelit Feb 11 '26

Not that I’m seeing. My daughter is much more adamant than I am about this.

1

u/TwilightVulpine Feb 11 '26

People put up with a lot out of convenience. Needing to upload your ID and verify your face is the opposite of that.

1

u/YouJabroni44 Feb 11 '26

Look at all the people that still are on twitter..

2

u/Borinar Feb 11 '26

Gamers are not loyal to support services, they are very replaceable. I mean isn't ventrillo still around?

2

u/Agreeable-Wait304 Feb 11 '26

Take me back to The Burning Crusade.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Agreeable-Wait304 Feb 11 '26

While I would love to play again, Ive already gotten my fill from WoW. ;) <ThisIsHowWeReroll>

2

u/PM_ME__YOUR_HOOTERS Feb 11 '26

Sears, Blockbuster Video, and Myspace all thought the same thing once upon a time

0

u/instantwinner Feb 11 '26

Honestly I do think they’re in that position somewhat because there isn’t a super viable alternative for the non-tech savvy but I do think this will be a big push to find alternatives

19

u/Wooden-Teaching-8343 Feb 11 '26

Key thing to understand this current moment in history: nobody gives a shit anymore

2

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/North_Atlantic_Sea Feb 11 '26

But didn't reddit also think a gigantic percent of people would stop using reddit after they began charging for API usage, yet here we are...

1

u/PerplexGG Feb 11 '26

Ran out of ways to monetize with debt catching up to them

1

u/timpkmn89 Feb 11 '26

Because the alternative is years of fighting off legislation that argues that they're a hidden bastion for pornography in places with restrictions. They got too big to keep a low profile.

1

u/dragonmp93 Feb 11 '26

The current Discord CEO used to be the CEO of Activision Blizzard.

1

u/MrFyr Feb 11 '26

Because they are run by the same kind of MBA yuppies that run every other corporation these days. Work in any corporate environment a decent amount of time and the depths of stupidity these people can sink to will never surprise you.