How to use Discord – for Second Life Residents

Discord is a freeware VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) that lets you communicate with other people through voice or text, similar to the way you might have using Skype or TeamSpeak, but it seems to have more features. The reason I wanted to talk about it today is because it’s geared towards gamers and I’ve noticed more Second Life residents using it for different purposes.

You may be wondering why Second Life residents may be using it when we already have a pretty great voice system inworld, the main reason for that may be because it’s convenient. You can voice or text to any groups of people, or even someone one on one, without having to login to Second Life. People are not only using it for gaming though, it’s also being utilized for various projects and other communities.

I’ve done a video showing you how you can quickly set it up, join or create a server and start using it:
https://youtu.be/zi69va-Zf88

• FREE: Discord is free and they say that their core features will always be free, so you are able to join servers and setup your own, all for free. They don’t run ads on Discord either so to stay afloat in the future they plan to sell optional cosmetic upgrades and they also have Discord-Nitro which is a subscription feature they have added if you’d like to support their endeavors and receive some perks at the same time.
• Installation: With Discord you can use the browser version without installing anything and/or you can download and install the app on your computer or phone. It works beautifully and smoothly on all systems. However, downloading the desktop or mobile versions gives you more functionality and better performance.
• Registration: The best way to start using Discord is to register first and then you can update your profile before you create or join channels to start chatting and socializing with other Discord users. You do not have to register in order to chat on Discord, however if you just enter the channel without registering, every time you go back to that channel after exiting, you are making a new account with a new name and you will lose any private messages you may have shared with your previous names and clutter up the servers. So it’s best if you just register and claim your account to continue conversations with the same username.
• Join a Server: You need an invite link to join a server. The Blogger & Vlogger Network recently shared their invite link on their blog. Here is also an invite link to the SL Creators Studio on Discord (which is a support server for Second Life content creators.) If YOU have a public server for Second Life residents, feel free to share the invite link in the comments.
• Create your own Server: If you want to create your own server and invite your community or group of friends to come chat with you there, you can click the plus (+) sign at the bottom of the left hand column under the list of servers and then click ‘create a server’ from there you will just want to follow through with the steps. You can pick a server name and then choose the region closest to you. Then when setting up your channels, please make sure to go through the permissions on each channel to allow or deny access to certain functions. There are many settings you should check when running a server and you can find all of those under ‘Server Settings’ at the top.

If you have further questions about Discord and how to use it, check out the very detailed Discord support page for more information.

One thing I do want to remind you of is before sharing any personal information on Discord, check their Privacy Policy and see what they do with the information they collect from you. Make sure to never share anything highly sensitive in nature and always protect yourself and your personal information. But of course, that is usually the case with any website or social network online, which is why I usually prefer to use a pseudonym and prefer not to share real life information or imagery.

I recently had a Live Social Media Discussion at BVN Headquarters and in that discussion, I spoke in detail about several social networks but I didn’t really cover Discord so I thought I would do a whole post for it. Don’t forget to check out that Social Media post and join me on other networks as well!

UPDATE: I have deleted my server. Thank you for being a part of it all of this time. Please feel free to share links to other Second Life related servers in the comments. Thank you.