Timothy Ho

Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to analyse how Generation Z individuals use Discord to create dynamic and engaging communities of shared interests, fostering a sense of ownership, belonging and collaboration through its communication features and innovative digital tools. This paper will discuss several main points on how Discord, a digital communication platform initially designed exclusively for gamers, has become a highly functional application where users can create and participate in multiple servers depending on their interests and hobbies. By capitalising on innovative tools such as voice and text channels, custom stickers and emojis and user-generated content, Gen Z individuals can freely form multiple personalised channels reflecting identities and converse in meaningful and encouraging discussions. In general, the few key points presented in this conference paper aim to showcase the significant influence of Discord can be an essential communication platform for Gen Z to make deep connections with other people in the cyber world.

Introduction:

Discord has risen to become a central digital hub in recent times for communication among Generation Z, designed as a social media platform beyond gaming. This resourceful application enables online users to have real-time messaging and create and join multiple servers catering to many mutual interests, from study groups to creative communities to social and political activism. It also emphasises user-generated content and customisation to encourage a sense of affiliation and proprietorship among users, allowing them to create spaces reflecting their identities, making it an engaging experience for young people seeking immersive online environments and collaboration. Hence, I believe my conference paper fits within the conference stream of Communities and Social Media as it discusses how Gen Z use Discord as a social media platform to establish dynamic and engaging communities, fostering a sense of belonging, ownership and collaboration through real-time communication, shared interests and innovative digital tools

Definition of community and what Discord is:

A community is defined as a group of individuals living in one area or a collection of people sharing a common interest, nationality or social group (Cambridge, n.d.). On the other hand, the context of community on the Internet means a “group of people with similar interests or who want to achieve something together” (Cambridge, n.d.). A virtual community or an online community can also refer to diverse technologically mediated communities, often being very lifestyle-oriented and highly personalised (Delanty, 2018). Thus, a community can be referred to in a variety of ways. Modern technologies such as e-mails, smartphones, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter and TikTok and other blog sites are some of the most social forms of technology to exist, replacing traditional communication methods required for distance connections and have offered easy access, interconnectivity and synchronicity for efficient mass global communication (Delanty, 2018).

Discord is a digital communication platform prioritising users to create online servers to invite others to join. In these servers, admins can create both text and voice channels, allowing users to communicate with each other in real-time either by text messaging which they can type and send messages, GIFs, images and videos or by using voice-over-IP messaging on a voice channel with other members of the server who are connected to the same server. The program started exclusively for gamers to voice chat with others whilst playing video games but with the swift surge of its fanbase, Discord began to include a wide array of users and fandoms from small friend groups to interact with each other to popular gaming streamers interacting with their audiences (Mastellone, 2021, pg. 5-6). While the majority of the user base is between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, a Discord representative suggested that 30% of the servers on Discord are utilized for other purposes besides gaming (Mastellone, 2021, pg.7). I intend to make use of examples of Discord to explain how Gen Z can foster a sense of belonging and ownership in the platform, how shared interest are created on Discord and the creative and innovative tools used.

Sense of belonging, ownership and collaboration:

Discord offers a digital sanctuary for Generation Z individuals to foster a sense of belonging, ownership and partnership. In the era of online interactions, this platform focuses on its users and the creation of a digital environment for members to interact with others by forming communities and creating servers for it. Their main intention is to have a safe and secure place to interact with others, with the dynamics and values tying in with a specific community, along with providing users the inherent authority bestowed upon them to invite and reject others from their online communities (Mastellone, 2021). In addition, Discord allows users to acquire ownership of a server according to social status from other members of a server by offering its users several special perks to support other members and allows them to set up private channels exclusively for those who belong to them. Thus, these possibilities enable users to differentiate themselves from others, enabling them to assign and receive social status (Mastellone, 2021). According to Almomani (2024), Discord server members have unique roles and statuses to represent their duties, standings and interests within a community, such as moderator, admin, community owner and member. Server owners will initiate these responsibilities and give them to the members, showcasing a social hierarchy in a Discord community where each user acquires specific obligations within the server. For instance, a community owner creates multiple channels on a server, and the administrator retains the authority to permanently ban members who bully and mistreat others. Subsequently, Discord can also foster a strong sense of collaborative communities in collective groups to achieve a particular goal in professional, educational or creative purposes. The platform has showcased itself as an essential platform for community engagement and collaboration across different domains. This is because of its community-oriented framework, allowing servers focused on mutual interests, exchange resources, collaborative projects and establishing discussions (Margatan & Oktavia, 2024). Also, team communication and project management are values which are displayed when it comes to Discord’s community building ideals as the platform supports active private server hubs with specified topics and interests for productive discussions and workmanship alongside sharing useful resources together (Margatan & Oktatvia, 2024).

Shared mutual interest in Discord:

With how Discord is now being used by more and more people in the current digital landscape, it has transformed into a popular hub for fan communities of a particular interest, topic or hobby, become an inviting and comfortable digital space for easy communication with friends and other people, going beyond casual talking by staying in touch with various communities. Although Discord began as a social networking platform for online gamers, over time, the platform does not limit its service nor marketing strategies exclusively for the gaming community but has now expanded its operation for a more inclusive approach for various individuals like streamers, businesses, social media influencers and everyone to create and grow their communities on Discord (Nong & Yee Heng, 2021).In this context, Discord aims to value inclusivity in its application to make new users from different communities and social backgrounds feel welcomed. The customisation features on Discord offer users an array of features and tools to not only create a group server but also a digital space to hang out with other like-minded people sharing similar interests and opinions on a topic or subject. As an illustration, a university esports club Discord server can be categorized into several channels dedicated to multiple video games, making it simple for club members to search a group chat for that specific game they are interested in playing and form connections with other members. As such, Nong and Yee Heng (2021) describe Discord’s feature of acquiring multiple channels enables users to form a feasible community in their server while maintaining the relevance and quality of discussions and fun activities. Furthermore, there is a major presence of digitally mediated fandom and community-run servers on Discord, most notably on popular video game franchises such as Minecraft, Roblox, Valorant and Fortnite, having over 60,000 servers respectively (Kocik et al., 2024). In addition to gaming, Discord has an unlimited range of online servers focusing on multiple media-oriented fan objects and texts, catering for fan discussion and creative production in a singular place to promote social interactions among fans. Consequently, Discord serves well for traditional fan participation activities like sharing their creative work, like fan fiction and fan art, alongside operating as an engaging and comfortable social environment for fans to connect over mutual interests to forge stronger relationships within the fandom community (Kocik et al., 2024). What’s more, Discord’s servers are meant to promote a sense of close connection within servers, encouraging trust and friendship among members. This can be seen when content creators and social media influencers embraced Discord by forming their official and community-run servers and actively engaging with their audience, functioning the same way as direct interaction between creators and fans. They can suggest new content ideas, express their appreciation and support and provide useful feedback to creators, making it essential in enriching the social and parasocial relationships sustaining a creator’s career as well as fostering fans’ sense of mutual affection with their favourite influencer (Kocik et al., 2024).

Innovative tools in Discord:

The innovative tools in Discord are dynamic and efficient features that make the program a standout choice for Generation Z as a communication and social media platform. Discord is equipped with a multitude of functionalities and features enabling users to build their communities and communicate with members globally around shared interests and hobbies. Based on Almomani (2024), he explains Discord users are able to communicate with each other through direct messages and interact with bigger online communities on multiple “online servers” privately, where users are only able to join one if the server admins or owner invite them. Anyone can also join open public servers comprising multiple channels, which is similar to communicating in chat rooms on the Internet. These Discord servers have different channels for a variety of purposes, and users can easily customise them for different purposes, as well as able to lock and hide specific channels for privacy and security. Like for instance, there are text channels for users to send text messages and share media content, including images, videos, emojis and files, forum channels for creating posts and having friendly discussions on specific topics and interests and finally, voice channels known as “Lounge channel” with the speaker icon on Discord for real-time connection with other members of a server through real-time voice and video communication with screen sharing features (Almomani, 2024). Not only that, but Discord also provides users who are server owners to make their own distinct sets of emojis, themes and stickers for their servers. Likewise, a key feature in Discord is incorporating custom bots for different functionalities, ranging from administrative tools like MEE6 for server moderation to music streaming options like Rhythm and Groovy and even productivity support like PollBot for scheduling poll votes and Appollo for event management (Nong & YeeHeng, 2021). This shows the comprehensive level of Discord’s customisation features to not only appeal to casual users to join a group chat that fits their particular interests or needs but also engage content creators to display their creative work and express their uniqueness to their audiences.

Conclusion:

Discord, as a digital platform used by Generation Z individuals, allow them to create and join servers according to their interests and identities. For this conference paper, I have used a few peer-reviewed journal articles and analysis thesis as excellent examples to highlight the functionality and features of Discord as a social media platform not only to communicate with other members but also serve to users with special roles to fulfil their specific duties in a server along with explaining the reason Gen Z create servers based on their shared interests. I hope that this conference paper has informed about how Gen Z capitalises Discord as a digital communication platform and how it fits into the conference stream of Communities and Social Media after talking about making vibrant and interactive communities promoting a sense of kinship, teamwork and collaboration through instant communication, sharing common interests and utilizing creative digital tools for maximum productivity and management.

Reference List

Almomani, G. (2024). Exploring digital technology use in socially and technologically complex contexts: the case of Discord. https://chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/42160/Almomani2024.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Cambridge (n.d.). Community. In dictionary.cambridge.org dictionary. Retrieved Wednesday 2 April 2025, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/community

Delanty, G. (2018). Virtual Community: Belonging as communication. In Community (3rd ed., pp. 200–224). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315158259-10

Discord. (n.d. c). About Discord | Our mission and values. Retrieved April 24, 2021, from   https://discord.com/company

Kocik, D., Berge, P. S., Butera, C., Oon, C., & Senters, M. (2024). ” Imagine a place:”Power and intimacy in fandoms on Discord. Transformative Works and Cultures, 42. https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/download/2497/313            9?inline=1

Margatan, N., & Oktavia, T. (2024, December). Critical Success Factor of Discord Usage: A Systematic Literature Review. In 2024 International Conference on Intelligent Cybernetics Technology & Applications (ICICyTA) (pp. 601-606). IEEE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10913223

Mastellone, D. (2021). Online Social Status: A Critical Discord Analysis (Master’s thesis). https://studenttheses.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/20.500.12932/137/Desiree_Mastellone_5982219_Master_Thesis.pdf

Nong, M. N., & Yee Heng, T. (2021). Reaction Paper 1: Social Media Platforms-Discord. https://miaworld.neocities.org/files/discord.pdf