Discord: why kids love it and how you can keep them safe

Servers. Channels. Nitro. Boost. You’ve probably overheard the kids in your life mentioning these terms. Confused? They’re talking about Discord, the social media voice, video and text app that skyrocketed to popularity during the pandemic.

As with any social platform, there are pros and cons. To help the kids in your life make the most of the connections and community, it’s important to understand how Discord works, what the risks are and how you can make sure kids stay safe while using the app.

Understanding the basics

Launched in 2015 by a gamer and computer programmer who wanted a better way for players to communicate when playing games, Discord gained real traction during the pandemic. By late 2021, the app reported 150 million active users per month.

Discord offers voice, video and text capabilities, and users must be 13+ to join. Users can create or join “servers,” which are chat rooms for specific groups or interests. There are large, public servers where people can talk about their favourite games (Minecraft and Fortnite are popular), art, music, fashion or any other topic they’re passionate about. Private servers are invite-only and are typically smaller communities or groups of friends who want to gather online, hang out, chat and share memes.

Servers are then organized into channels. Text channels allow users to post messages, upload files and share images. Voice channels allow users to do voice or video calls in real time or Go Live by sharing their screen.

Student Hubs are a feature that allow students to verify their Discord accounts with their official student emails. From there, they can unlock access to exclusive hubs created by other students at their schools.

What are the risks?

Like anything online these days, there are people using Discord with ill intentions. Since the app gained popularity, Discord has been criticized for its slack content moderation policies (typically left to volunteers in each server) and the danger of youth being exposed to inappropriate content on the platform. The younger user base makes this platform a target for people looking to exploit children.

In fact, in the past three years, Cybertip.ca, Canada’s tip line for reporting online sexual exploitation of children, has seen a steady rise in Discord-related reports. Reports involving this app increased by 26% from 2021 to 2022, and by 317% since 2019.

Staying safe on Discord

While there are risks to using Discord, you can use the app’s safety and privacy settings combined with some of your own rules to ensure youth stay protected.

Discord offers four steps to a “super safe” account including:

• Protecting your account with a secure password and two-factor authentication
• Using the privacy and safety settings to control who can contact you and what they are allowed to send you (the app offers a Direct Message (DM) filter, explicit image filter, DM spam filter and friend request settings)
• Being cautious about suspicious links and files
• Blocking users when needed.

Tips to ensure that you and the kids in your life use Discord safely:

• Be aware that user generated content can sometimes be inappropriate. Assure kids they can come to you to discuss any content that makes them feel uncomfortable, and teach kids how to block and report someone who is behaving inappropriately.
• Ensure kids only connect with people they know by only joining servers where they know the other participants in real life (settings can help you limit who can send friend requests to your kids).
• Adjust your kids’ DM settings and content filters together. You can also control how the app uses your child’s data for customization and analytics.
• Leverage the Discord Family Center. Parents can track which servers kids have joined or participated in, the people they’ve messaged and new users they connect with.
• Have ongoing conversations about your kids’ digital habits and how they are using Discord. The more curious you are (in a non-intrusive way), the more willing they may be to share their digital lives with you.
• Educate yourselves together – remember, kids have a lot to share regarding their digital experiences and knowledge, and we have a lot to learn from them.

Discord is a great way for kids to connect with each other and immerse themselves in topics and interests they are really passionate about. Of course, there are risks. But like everything online, it’s important to balance the benefits and the risks. Establish and trust the safety measures your family uses across all social media platforms. Model the behaviour you expect from your kids. And keep having ongoing, open conversations. When you’re curious about what your kids are doing online and invested in their experiences, they gain the confidence of knowing that their digital lives matter.

To learn more about other popular apps - including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and more, check out the TELUS Wise Guide to popular social media and messaging apps.