Can we please unpin the proprietary off-site/off-network promotion of discord
This is completely counter productive to growing Lemmy. I absolutely despise discord. Look at the network traffic it generates and tell me wtf they are doing. They won't tell you. Their business model will leave you completely dumbfounded as to how they exist. Everything shared on the platform is lost in a black hole unavailable to the outside world and everything shared is a privacy nightmare. Posting this, pinning it here, and locking it is one of the biggest trolls possible. It pisses me off every time I log in. "Everyone else does it" is the excuse of idiots. Discord makes absolutely no sense to anyone that actually cares to look into it, read the user agreement, and ask sane questions about what they are doing.
Listen, you people need to realize a lot of people are here on Lemmy because Reddit screwed them over, not because Lemmy is open source or less of a privacy issue or whatever your reasons for using it are.
So you hate Discord. That's fine, you're allowed to! But pitching a fit because everyone else doesn't hate it isn't gonna convince anyone to stop using it.
What people don't get is that self-hosting a Discord-like is not a solution. The idea is to have a fallback in case the server goes down, and Discord serves that role well.
I have hated discord so much and for so long. It collects all my data, controls and censors servers, and its run by shitty people who keep their shareholders close by.
I use Matrix and it has the potential to be a lot of fun (use a frontend that isn't Element and it gets way better) but it has limited instances. Yeah, I'd be extremely grateful if Lemmy communities had Matrix Rooms as opposed to Discord Servers.
Sure, Lemmy does not offer end-to-end encryption by default, which means that your messages could be intercepted by someone who is able to access your ISP's network or the Lemmy server. A red flag for me is the fact that Lemmy stores some user data on their servers, such as your IP address and email address. This data could be used as breadcrumbs.
Lemmy may not sell user data to third parties, but what about the servers? There have been some security vulnerabilities found in Lemmy's code. These exploits could result in servers being hijacked or user accounts compromised.
So, what does all this mean? It means that it is your personal responsibility to take steps to protect your privacy and security when using Lemmy. This includes using the encryption feature, being aware of the risks associated with using Lemmy, and carefully evaluating the privacy policies of any platform before you use it.
I know it's a lot to keep track of, but it's important. Your privacy is your business, and it's up to you to protect it. So take these things seriously, and don't let anyone take your privacy away from you.
About the concerns with Discord:
Creating a post saying, 'everyone else does it' and locking it is funky in my book. I, like you, I am all about transparency and understanding. I fully understand your anxiety, and it is a bit warranted. I am not trying to sound like an alarmist.
On the subject of Discord, it is amazing and disturbing how much data is curated and harvested. Their business model is quite mysterious. No one really knows what their real motives are. Discord shrouds itself and does not provide clear and concise privacy audits or statements on the subject.
You are concerned about your privacy, and rightfully so. Lemmy is designed for privacy from the ground up when used properly and only with encryption functions enabled. Discord, on the other hand, unfortunately has a stranglehold on the instant messaging backbone.
CVE-2021-29465: This vulnerability allowed attackers to overwrite any file on the system with the command results. This could have been used to steal user data, install malware, or take control of Discord servers.
CVE-2021-29466: This vulnerability allowed attackers to read local files from the server. This could have been used to steal user data, such as passwords or chat logs.
CVE-2021-34491: This vulnerability allowed attackers to bypass Discord's rate limit, which could have been used to send spam or DDoS attacks.
CVE-2022-22936: This vulnerability allowed attackers to take control of Discord servers by exploiting a flaw in the Discord Token Generator.
These are just a few examples, but I would be lying if I said they were not patched. That being said there is no telling how many zero-day security risks are out there at this time, so it is important to stay vigilant and ask the hard questions to ensure that your privacy is protected.
Lastly, you could totally start a community here on .world for Discord alternatives. It's a easy breezy lemon squeezy way to find people who are also into privacy and security.
It's a unabashed admission from the admin that this site isn't taken seriously, nor the FOSS mindset that built the infrastructure + most of the userbase. Real disappointing for sure, but especially considering the other decisions that have been made recently on this platform -it's gonna be a ghost town soon.
Don't care, tbh. I would prefer if people would be less uptight on these things. Let people have Lemmy and Discord, if they want. They'll get there, if we stop being dicks to people who are still finding out.
Think what you want about Discord, but it has a different purpose than Lemmy or Matrix. It's mainly a real-time chat application (with voice on top if you want). Nobody chatting on Discord will create a Lemmy post instead, two totally different forms of communication. That's like complaining back in the day why the forum you use has an IRC room pinned.
Their business model will leave you completely dumbfounded as to how they exist.
Does it? Look up Discord Nitro, they charge a lot of money for basic functionality (like being able to share your screen above 720p, use custom emojis on other servers, promote your own server, ..). They rake in plenty of money, no need to sell your data for that (which they at least say don't do based on the terms and conditions).
Currently there is no good alternative to Discord for actual chatting. Lemmy doesn't offer a chat function (Though the chat on Reddit was crap too). Mastodon is not a chat, it's a Twitter alternative. And IRC has always been crap where 9 out of 10 people just idle and you don't have a chat history.
You sound very angry at a piece of software. You don't have to use it, and you can block the community/user that posted the thing you don't like.
Take a breath and don't worry about it, for real. Not everything in life is for you, and you won't like everything you see, and that's fine. It doesn't make your feelings invalid, but you can't let it get to you < 3
Why care so much. Nobody forces you to do anything, don't like it don't use it and you can still enjoy Lemmy World. The entitlement is a bit much honestly.
Edit: for some perspective. This comment currently has 23 downvotes, only 5 of them are from Lemmy World users that actually see the local pinned post.