Step One: Provide an exceptional but unprofitable service.
Step Two: Drive out all competition because business model is unprofitable. Become the only service users want and become invested into.
Step Three: Enshitify to show the model can be profitable to investors. Users will not leave because they are already invested and competition is not strong.
Step Four: Go public, while continuing to Enshitify.
Has Discord really done Step Two? I’m not saying they haven’t tried to drive out competition, mind you, I’m just unaware of any attempts to do so. Unlike Facebook or Google or Apple who have long, stories histories of driving out or purchasing any competition they could.
Regardless, every other part is true. My friend group uses Discord all the time, for its initial intended purpose - quickly and easily hanging out with friends with chat and voice and sometimes video. Bunch of us even have Nitro.
Despite being relatively early adopters and genuinely enjoying Discord, we’re all very wary and actively seeking alternatives for when it inevitably becomes unbearable to use.
Skype is dead, sites like ooVoo are long gone, TeamSpeak seems to be held up in part by game clans.
While I can’t say they actively killed the competition, they certainly gave plenty of services little reason to exist. Discord created such a good and new service, that there wasn’t any reason to leave it for a different service.
Step One: Provide an exceptional but unprofitable service.
Step Two: Drive out all competition because business model is unprofitable. Become the only service users want and become invested into.
Step Three: Enshitify to show the model can be profitable to investors. Users will not leave because they are already invested and competition is not strong.
Step Four: Go public, while continuing to Enshitify.
Has Discord really done Step Two? I’m not saying they haven’t tried to drive out competition, mind you, I’m just unaware of any attempts to do so. Unlike Facebook or Google or Apple who have long, stories histories of driving out or purchasing any competition they could.
Regardless, every other part is true. My friend group uses Discord all the time, for its initial intended purpose - quickly and easily hanging out with friends with chat and voice and sometimes video. Bunch of us even have Nitro.
Despite being relatively early adopters and genuinely enjoying Discord, we’re all very wary and actively seeking alternatives for when it inevitably becomes unbearable to use.
Skype is dead, sites like ooVoo are long gone, TeamSpeak seems to be held up in part by game clans.
While I can’t say they actively killed the competition, they certainly gave plenty of services little reason to exist. Discord created such a good and new service, that there wasn’t any reason to leave it for a different service.