Discord’s Evolution and Future Plans
Discord is marking its entry into its second decade as a company and is poised to go public. Throughout its journey, it has revolutionized the way online communities interact, transforming groups that once existed as forums or message boards into multi-channel instant message servers. Today, a wide range of communities, including AI platforms like Midjourney (Discord’s largest server), international gaming communities, and school clubs, have made Discord their home.

The Enduring Role of Message Boards
Despite the rise of Discord, message boards continue to serve a valuable purpose. In some cases, the more structured and incremental nature of forum discussions can be more beneficial than the fast-paced, real-time chats on Discord, which can overwhelm users with a large number of unread messages and potentially bury the most useful information.

Addressing the Issue of Information Overload
According to The Verge, Peter Sellis, Discord’s SVP of product, acknowledges the need to address this issue. He states that the company is exploring ways to develop features that are more conducive to structured knowledge sharing, similar to forums, and that they could invest more in this area.

Proposed Solutions and Challenges
One potential solution to the clutter is to utilize a Large Language Model (LLM) to summarize long streams of messages. However, the diverse culture among Discord users may lead to a mixed reaction to the introduction of AI, with some users embracing it and others opposing it.

The Potential of LLMs
Sellis suggests that LLMs could help transform lengthy, meandering conversations into more shareable and syndicated content across the web. Nevertheless, he admits that they have not yet found a solution that they are entirely satisfied with.

A New Era for Discord
With a new CEO at the helm and an imminent initial public offering (IPO), Discord is likely to undergo significant updates and changes in the near future.