this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2026
62 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

42259 readers
1423 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world


7) No Hit-and-Run questions.
Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.


8) No Bots.
Posts or comments from bots, LLM's, AIs, Neural Networks, Transformers, or Marvin the Paranoid Android are not welcome in AskLemmy. Real humans only please.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Does anyone here use anything other than Discord for chatting? What exactly and how much?

"use" is the key word here, I'm interested in actual usage, not just the names of alternatives that I already know

Boosts are welcome. Thanks for answering

CC: @asklemmy
#AskFedi #AskFediverse #Software #Privacy

top 46 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] cymor@midwest.social 1 points 4 days ago

XMPP still works great! I use it for family.

[–] AbsolutelyNotSpez@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I replaced Discord with Fluxer and use it for all my gaming groups. Several hours per session weekly.

[–] Pamasich@kbin.earth 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I'd love to use Fluxer, sadly I haven't had luck with getting any of my friends to switch over yet.

[–] AbsolutelyNotSpez@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

Since I'm the GM of said pen & paper groups I didn't give them any other choice but to move to Fluxer. ^^

[–] lemmyng@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Same. People just love to sit in the boiling pot.

[–] LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 1 week ago

Excuse me it’s called a hot tub. :3

[–] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip -4 points 1 week ago

Then they aren't your friends.

[–] Broadfern@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Signal mostly, my circles know I’m chronically offline and thus not on big social platforms. The folks who don’t move to signal know my number and text/call me as needed which isn’t often or super sensitive because the rest of the conversation usually happens in person ¯\(ツ)/¯

ETA: I also have a couple contacts on Simplex, at their behest not mine. Not a fan of the voice/video quality to be honest but it’s fairly secure at least

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm on IRC some of the time, mostly Libera. I've run and used a self-hosted nextcloud chat server a little, and have fooled with Jami and Jitsi Meet. At my old work we used Slack. At another one, Hipchat. I've never used Discord.

[–] trojanbark@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Oh hi fellow libera user

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 9 points 1 week ago

Fluxer, Matrix, IRC and Telegram... each is used by different groups, so I'm stuck with all of them.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I use this niche software called Lemmy, idk about you guys tho

[–] LadyButterfly@reddthat.com 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] JackTea@piefed.world 1 points 4 days ago

Ignore them. I'm pretty sure it's a made up name.

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 4 points 1 week ago

never heard of it

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

XMPP

Gajim for Linux and Windows, Monocles on Android. There's an iOS client that's pretty good too.

[–] lntl@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

Conversations app for Android : )

[–] DrSoap@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

My college has a mandatory server that you choose your roles for every semester to enter your course chat, where you get your homework and reminders of assignments.

[–] EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] DrSoap@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

I think its honestly a lawsuit waiting to happen. They make us use our full legal name. Someone is going to get stalked or a professor is going to start getting fresh with a student.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 1 week ago

when i was uni they forced us to use some obscure social media specifcally for college students, people barely could connect that way. when there was still other forums around, and Y/answers.

[–] zener_diode@feddit.org 7 points 1 week ago

I use Matrix with a group of friends that I persuaded to move from Discord. We still use Discord's voice chat, but now that Matrix is starting to have something similar, I might try to get them to use Matrix for that too. So, the usage here is just general groupchat-like stuff.

I'm also in the process of moving the student council I'm in from Discord to Matrix. Once that's up and running, it'll cover groupchats, coordinating and announcing events, channels/rooms for various courses, and discussing/organising the various things the student council does.

[–] CarstenBoll@feddit.dk 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I switched to matrix some years back, but it was too much upkeep for my non-tech family and friends, so we mass switched to Signal. I never used discord, but I'll date myself by saying I've used IRC, MSN, and Skype in the before times.

[–] clif@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

IRC is still relevant... at least for the olds.

Most of my channels are VERY low traffic, just occasionally catching up with people I met there 20+ years ago. But, the #xkcd (Slashnet) one is pretty active if you want to jump back in and actually talk to people.

Bouncer on the home server, hexchat on the desktop. I had some mobile client but I didn't use it frequently enough to keep around.

[–] northernlights@lemmy.today 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

IRC and Matrix here. Through a self hosted ZNC and a self hosted Matrix instance with bridges.

[–] Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 week ago

We use signal with my family and my friends. But we are not actually spending much time together chatting, we rather coordinate meetups or video calls.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I've never really been a major chat user. I think that non-real-time forum-style systems like Usenet, Reddit, or the Threadiverse tend to lead to more interesting interaction.

The chat system that I've probably used the most has been phone group text messaging, with IRC or XMPP group chats coming in after that. One place I worked used AIM for a while, and people would use that to coordinate stuff or do water-cooler talk.

If I were going to pick one to use, it'd probably be XMPP, assuming that I could get everyone else to use it. Federated, variety of good native clients for different platforms, support for E2E encryption.

[–] dlsloop@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

I'm using Sable which is a Matrix client and so far it has been great. I haven't used discord in over a year now.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Telegram was growing the last time family/friends were looking for a change, so I have my tiny group there. It's actually pretty good for our needs.

https://mony.world/ which uses federated Harmony - essentially a federated Discord clone - has been spun up. Feel free to seek alternative instances, I only know of that one.

[–] Oka@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 week ago

We use Fluxor with a bot that bridges our Discord (SFW) and Matrix (NSFW) servers. We're hoping to migrate fully to Fluxor, but for now we are bridging the gaps.

[–] Hanrahan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Signal and Matrix, never used Discord though

[–] Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Fluxer

I wish the install wasn't such a bag of supply-chain risk, though.

[–] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I only use IRC regularly -- every other day or so to chat with a few small communities I'm part of. I enjoy hexchat even though it is EOL. There is a spiritual successor called ZoiteChat, but i haven't felt the need to change.

The others i only use if necessary, not often.

[–] uKale@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I use Matrix through a couple of different apps. It works very well for the few communities I've joined there.

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 2 points 1 week ago

Mostly Signal with friends and Matrix for various FOSS stuff. I've installed Discord recently because a potential employer hosts their communication there

[–] NotAnOtter@lemmus.org 2 points 1 week ago

I'm not spazzy enough to force others onto whichever platform I have deemed to be superior.

So I use whatever other people are using, which is normally discord or telegram. In the past I used Team Speak and Messenger for a while. I just rotate through profiles and practice other forms of digital hygiene

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I've never used Discord at all.

I use Telegram to chat with my wife, Facebook Messenger for a select group of friends, and text for everyone else.

[–] SourDragon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I don't talk to people. People are stupid. And seeing as I'm part of the people demographic, I admit that I, too, am stupid. So don't talk to me. /jk

[–] Estebiu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

I mostly just use Matrix and Teams.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 1 week ago

I use Matrix through FluffyChat more than I use Discord.

[–] lokalhorst@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I only use discord for voice chat, when I game with friends every two weeks. Signal otherwise, no WhatsApp installed.

[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 1 points 1 week ago

Matrix, Signal, Nextcloud Talk

Deleted discord when they started rolling out third party AI age verification if someone reported you and round the same time they were doing other shady shit.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago
  1. zoom, voice and always video
  2. messenger, voice and 50-50 video, usually with Portal TV Unit (every day it still works is a blessing). Call hand-off between Portal , phone and desktop mid-call are really well-done, so my wife's mother can easily switch to her phone, take the call up the stairs to her office and show me the thing on the cam that is messing up (usually printer lights) and then take the call back down to the living room and portal.
  3. teams as ordered, voice, and video VERY rarely
  4. gChat briefly when it's important enough to suffer the UX and connection glitches, voice and accidental video
  5. zello if people have it and the situation is dynamic
  6. mumble if people can find it

No value in discord for me.

Skype was eventually quite usable, despite increasingly wrong-headed UI fuckery. It started and ran a call nicely, and supported cross-device chat really well. I miss it.

I'm still hoping we can re-flash the gorgeous PortalTV hardware into something more usable in today's versatile world or find something like it (easy setup, voice calling if LLM API for voice commands, rock-solid reliability, no fucking subscriptions).

[–] Stormy@thelemmy.club 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

People actually use discord?

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 3 points 1 week ago

Yes. I still use it because the last time we checked it was the only one with xbox integration for the xbox players in our small friend group.

Everything over a dozen people sucks in discord, but it is still great on a small scale for gaming communication.