5 Key Differences Between Reddit and Discord

Discord may seem like a new challenger in the solutions we have to chat online, and maybe you are not really used to it yet. What’s the difference with the other options, like Reddit, for example? That’s the question I will answer in this article.

Overall, Reddit is a giant forum, split in thousands of subtopics (subreddits) but most of them are public. Discord users have to join a server to access its content, and each server correspond to a group of people, not necessarily around one specific subject.

That’s interesting, but which one should you use for what? Read the following of this article to know everything about these two solutions.

Functionality

The best place to start is by looking at the type of features that they offer.

Reddit

Let’s start by looking at Reddit. In many ways, that this is a form of social media. It serves primarily as a place for people to get together and discuss their shared passions.

This is a huge collection of forums. They cover almost any topic, broken up into subreddits. Each of these starts with the letter ‘r’. Any user will be able to start a new subreddit, as long as they meet some basic requirements.

Anyone will be able to create a post within one of these subreddits. Then, users will be able to post comments and start a discussion. They also have the ability to upvote or downvote. The more upvotes a post gets, the more people will see it.

You can also use the upvote or downvote for comments. This is a good way of providing feedback. It also affects the karma system, which is a good way of measuring how respected a user is. Users will need to generate some karma before they will be able to create their own subreddits. This is a way of encouraging people to post and contribute to the discussion.

They will be able to post text. They can also post photos and videos. Users will also be able to provide links to external sites, like news articles.

If people want to learn more about a user, they can click on their profile name. This will bring up any posts and comments that they have made.

In summary, these are the features that make Reddit unique:

  • Subreddits. There are hundreds of these, often dedicated to a single topic. This is where fans come together to share their passions.
  • Up and downvotes. These determine what posts get seen
  • Karma. The more upvotes a comment gets, the more karma the person who made it receives.
  • Posts consistent of text. Though people can also post photos, videos, Gifs, or links to websites.

Discord

Discord also provides a way of bringing people together. But unlike Reddit, there is no way of upvoting or liking content. Instead, it operates in a similar way to Microsoft Teams.

When Discord first launched, it was targeted at gamers. It provided a way for them to stay in communication while playing together. Plus, it was integrated with game streaming, like Twitch. Over time, though, it has started to become more mainstream, providing a place for fans to hang out and talk to each other. This means that Discord has become the place to have a conversation in real-time.

While Reddit has subreddits, Discord has servers. These cover all types of topics. It’s common for users to be involved in multiple servers. These are displayed on the left side of the screen, so it’s easy to switch between them. The server can be further subdivided into channels. This is a place for people to have more intimate conversations. You will be able to decide who comes into your channel.

It should be noted that there are verified servers. These have been created by official entities, like the game studios.

There are a few ways that those in Discord can communicate. These include:

  • Writing text. This is like writing a text, you’ll also be able to send Gifs and links to articles.
  • Video calls. These can include up to 25 other people, like a video conference on Skype.
  • Voice calls. This is one of the most popular features on the platform, especially amongst gamers.

These features aren’t available on Reddit. You can also control which users you interact with. For example, you can mute someone or block their messages.

Size of the User Base

Both of these sites have managed to build a large global audience. Reddit is one of the most popular sites in the world. It has ranked as one of the top ten sites in the United States.

It’s estimated that 52 million people use Reddit every day. However, the real user base is much higher. There are around 430 million active monthly users. These spread out among over 100,000 subreddits.

The number of people who use Reddit has been growing at an astonishing rate. Between 2015 and 2019, the number of monthly users rose by over 250 percent. Because of this, Reddit has become one of the biggest social networks in the world.

While smaller than Reddit, the user base of Discord is not to be overlooked. This site has been able to accrue 140 million monthly users. While this is less than Reddit, what’s remarkable is the speed at which Discord has been growing. It doubled in size between 2019 and 2020.

This growth will likely continue, as people view Discord as more than just a gaming service. This is a perception that the company is working to actively change. They are trying to get businesses to use it to connect team members.

Its biggest servers have become densely populated. There are over 800,000 members for servers like Minecraft and Fortnite. But there are plenty of smaller servers. It’s believed that there are over 19 million active servers.

Age of the Platform

Reddit is one of the oldest social media sites in the world. It was started in 2005, which makes it 16 years old. For comparison, Facebook is 17 years old and Twitter is 15 years old. However, Reddit has not remained static. There have been changes made to Reddit, turning it into the site we know today. These included:

  • Adding comments in 2005
  • Adding subreddits in 2008
  • Embedding was added in 2015
  • In 2018, the site was redesigned to a more modern design

Discord was launched on the 13th of May, 2015. While it is a relatively new service, it has been able to make a big impact. As the core gaming audience started to learn about Discord it rapidly grew. Interestingly, it was Reddit that helped gamers build awareness of the fledgling service.

Who Can Participate?

Most of Reddit is public. This means that all the users will be able to participate. However, there are a few ways that you can limit who has access to the page. These options are:

  • Restricted. There will be a limited number of people who will be able to post to the subreddit. But everyone will be able to see the posts they are making. A variation of this is allowing anyone to make a post but only certain people to comment.
  • Private. The moderator has control over who views the subreddit. Only those who are invited will be able to look at the posts or make comments.

Similar to Reddit, most of the servers on Discord will be open to the public. However, they also have private servers. To get access to one of these, you will need to be invited by one of the administrators.

Premium Versions

Both of these sites are free for users. But they also offer premium versions. Reddit Premium costs $5.99 a month. For this price, you will be able to block out the ads. You’ll also be able to get access to a subreddit that can only be seen by members. Users on this tier also get 700 coins a month, this is Reddit’s form of currency.

Discord also has a premium tier. It is known as Nitro. It is a little more expensive than Reddit, costing $9.99 or $99.99 if you pay for a year. For this price, you’ll be able to get access to a few benefits:

  • Better emojis
  • Improved upload size
  • HD video
  • A personalized profile
  • Two server boosts

There is a cheaper premium membership if you just want the chat benefits without getting the server boosts. This will cost $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

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