Navigating Discord
When I first created my discord account, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I tried to create my own server, I don’t quite know how I made that make sense but I tried it! I quickly realised I actually had to have some kind of reason to create a server, like a project, or a community that needed a home, and I had neither.
Needless to say I did not create a server, but instead worked to find an existing one. GaryVee came to my rescue with that one; but one, there were a lot of people in there, two, I still had no idea where to go, and three, why in the world are there so many people in one place? I had not seen this many people in one chat room in…ever! As I plunged deeper into web3 twitter though, I found server after server of strange and sometimes wonderful projects. I began to understand that the metasphere was much much bigger than I knew or could ever fully understand. It houses every kind of person, and the goal is that they get to find likeminded people. By the end of my first week in discord, I was in 6 servers and I thought that was as busy as it could get (insert ROTFL emoji). As a side note, I am still trying to figure out how many servers is too many, I will revert back to you as soon as I find the answer to that.
Now for the real question, how do you get around the server? Mind you I am not an official expert, more an experienced serial discord degen. First things first, I think I need to remind us all that the platform is a web2 platform, it is definitely an asset to the crypto community, but it was built with gamers in mind, not all of web3. Now that that is out of the way, let’s get into some of the tips.
- CLOSE YOUR DM’s. I’m sure you have heard that a million times but trust me on this one, any freebies that come through the DM are probably scams. It sucks that the one of the first things a person comes across is a message that promises a free nft, mintlist spot and everything a newb could desire, but that is a glimpse into the dark side of web3. Only accept friend requests and messages from people you have already interacted with.
- ONLY USE OFFICIAL LINKS. When minting or claiming whatever rewards a project may be giving up for grabs, only use the links shared by the official team; a scammer can easily clone a site’s link. Something as simple as adding a letter or a dot in the url will route you to their site, where once you connect your wallet, your money can be siphoned. Most servers have an ‘official links’ thread with all project related links, if in doubt, ask a moderator.
- DYOR. It’s an acronym for ‘do your own research’. A lot of people seem to make the mistake of assuming that because someone famous shared a project or because the dev’s promised nice staking rewards, that automatically the project is legit or as promising as it sounds. Read some articles, research the dev’s if you can, read about the project (whitepaper, roadmap, etc), chat with other community members, find out why the project appeals to YOU, why YOU want to buy in. After all, it is your money.
- BE NICE. If I could tell you how many rude people I have come across in discord, you would think I am making it all up. People who will cuss out the moderators, insult new joiners and/or just start beef for no apparent reason, and STILL expect to get on a mintlist. It’s insanity if you ask me, an absolute turnoff and makes people seem childish.
- TAKE YOUR TIME. It’s okay if you don’t understand some things, it is okay to be the new kid on the block or not be able to afford every single project you come across. Don’t rush the experience, take the time to vibe with the people, to try out the different communities until you find one that resonates with you. It’s not always a race, if anything, when you take your time, you can absorb more, avoid FOMOing into projects that may or may not be rug pulls. You will figure it out, in your own time; the journey into discord and web3 communities is a different one for everyone, yours is a 1/1, unique in its ’s own right.
Now look, there are a ton of things to know when getting into this space, some are very project/industry specific, but these are some that I think can help any new person get well onto the beginning of a monumental journey. Point 3 pretty much sums it all up though, do your research; a project could either change your life, or ruin it, so choose wisely (gosh I love how ominous that sounds, like an epic battle just about to begin). I have got to get back the discord grind now, but I hope this little corner in the crypto literary world will be a safe haven, a helpful resource & maybe a little entertainment for you.
Before I go, I want to share something with you, my wishlist; a list of projects I would like to get my hands on, one of them is Crypto Coven, a project about everything witchery and enchanting women. I love everything about it, and that art is flawless! The only issue is, I still have to figure out how to tell my mother that I want to join a coven, burn some sage for me!
See you in the metasphere. Miss Purple 💜
