Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevsky says he regularly raises the issue of platform \"enshittification\" at corporate meetings. This comes amid IPO plans and growing dependence on advertising revenue.
G. Ostrov
Discord users are experiencing growing anxiety about the platform\'s future. Against the backdrop of planned IPO and increasing advertising revenue share, fears emerge that the messaging service might follow the path of other social networks and begin deteriorating in favor of monetization.
Fighting Degradation from Within
Discord co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevsky admitted in an interview that he actively discusses these risks with the team: \"I\'m definitely the one who\'s constantly bringing up enshittification at internal meetings. It\'s not a bad thing to build a strong business and to monetize a product. That\'s how we can reinvest and continue to make things better. But we have to be extremely thoughtful about how we do that.\"
Vishnevsky understands user concerns: \"I understand the anxiety and concern. I think the things that people are afraid of are what separate a great, long-term focused company from just any other company.\"
Advertising as New Revenue Source
The main cause for concern became Discord\'s introduction of advertising, which the company had avoided since launching in 2015. March 2024 saw the first ad blocks in desktop and console versions, followed by video ads in the mobile app.
The company also launched the Orbs system — users earn points for viewing ads and can exchange them for in-game rewards. Discord plans to expand its advertising program and attract more advertisers.
Leadership Change and IPO Plans
In April, co-founder and CEO Jason Citron left the company. He was replaced by Humam Sakhnini, who has experience managing public companies, including Activision Blizzard. When announcing his departure, Citron hinted at a possible IPO, stating that \"hiring someone like Humam is a step in that direction.\"
Positive Examples from the Past
Discord has already demonstrated willingness to abandon unpopular ideas:
- In 2021, the company abandoned plans to implement crypto wallets and NFTs after negative community reaction
- In 2019, they closed a game store launched a year earlier due to low user interest
- Recently discontinued development of AI features and the OpenAI-based chatbot Clyde
\"We spent a year building that component of our business and then, quite frankly, we quickly knew it wasn\'t going well,\" Vishnevsky explained the decision to close the game store.
These examples provide hope that Discord will maintain its gaming focus and won\'t sacrifice user experience for short-term profits.
Learn more about Discord and new features on the platform\'s official website.
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