The literal meaning of discord is a lack of harmony or agreement between things, people, and even ideas. What does discord mean – the word discoid refers to an essential or intrinsic lack of feeling of trust which can create antagonism or quarrel. Examples of discord are, when a singer is trying to sing along with a piano which is out of tune and is unable to hit the same notes or when people from opposing parties get together to discuss politics. Discord also means a harsh noise like the sound of a battle, a dissonance.
What does discord mean?
- Discord App :
Discord, the popular all-purpose messaging app was named Discord by its two founders, Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy. As mentioned earlier, the dictionary meaning of discord is disagreement and lack of harmony between musical notes, people, etc. So in reality, it is a very ironic name to give to an app where people are supposed to meet virtually and have fun! This is exactly the reason why the founders settled on this name which makes the app unique. Not only that, it makes people curious that what are the features that an app named Discord can offer them.
Let us look at the other alternative name that was there before finalizing the present name. Also, see how has discord become a trending social media platform.
- Another Alternative Name :
There have been claims on numerous corners of the web that Discord was going to be named something different before the owners of the app settled on the current one. The name is Wyvern and it is believed to be after the creature from mythology. Mythically, Wyverns are in the same animal family as the dragons. Though they have wings, they do not normally breathe fire. Also, they are mostly smaller in size than their fire-breathing cousins of them. But they are more ferocious than usual dragons as if to make up for the small size.
No credible sources can be found at present regarding the origin of this claim. The spreaders of this news also can’t pinpoint any specific individual from whom they got to know about the name. It can surely be a false rumor spread by a random person.
The founders considered a few more names before finalizing Discord. But they have never disclosed what they were in front of us. All we can guess is Wyvern could be one of them. Also, according to us, the present name is far better than Wyvern. Though it is contradictory, it is absolutely fun. Here’s a tutorial to show you how discord works.
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How Was Discord Named?
The two founders of the app, Jason and Stanislav have been into video games throughout their lives. Citron first started a social platform for gaming, named OpenFeint, which he later sold to GREE, a Japanese gaming company.
Later, in 2012, Jason created a video-game studio along with Stan and named it Hammer and Chisel. Next, they released their first brand-new mobile game called Fates Forever. In the game, they added a feature where players could talk to their fellow players. Though the game was unable to garner much success in the gaming industry and was basically regarded as a flop, the messaging feature was highly appreciated and it turned out to be the best thing about the game.
After this, they shut down the gaming portion of Hammer and Chisel and fired many staff, and started focusing on creating an app solely for communication among gamers. Thus was the Discordapp made and Jason and Stan are at present the CEO and CTO of the company respectively.
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Why The Name Discord?
The word Discord is related to talking or communication and therefore it was related to the functioning of the product. It also sounds cool and is very easy to memorize, pronounce and write for everyone. Moreover, at the time of naming, the domain name was also available and wasn’t even trademarked. These are the main reasons why both the founders finalized this name after rejecting other options. The name is wholly contradictory to the goal of the app and this is why it created a buzz in the market as soon as it was launched in 2015.
- Original Goal :
Jason and Stan made Discord to resolve the problem of discussing gaming tactics. Though it originally did not target any particular audience, it became popular among gaming subreddits and tournament players very quickly.
In 2020 the app experienced rapid growth as its monthly users almost doubled and the number of registered users crossed 300 million. This sudden change made the company turn its focus from targeting gamers in favor of a wider audience. Almost thirty percent of the users were already non-gamers and used the app for study groups, anime, movies, technology, and many other things.
- Wrapping Up :
Discord has become a very useful platform for content creators, influencers, Twitch streamers and many other communities who want to enlarge their social circle. Here users can share their original content, get live feedback from the audience, get updated about what is happening around the world, and many other things.
The app is also trying to introduce a Paid Membership option in the future. Here creators will be able to build paid memberships as per their choices to provide extra benefits to their avid fans. Hopefully, this measure will make the communities grow stronger and inspire creators to deliver more content with better quality.