Searches for Discord alternatives spike 10,000% following age verification policy
For a long time, Discord has been the favorite messaging and community app for gamers around the world. This favorability might change soon, though, as the app’s popularity took a big hit on February 9, when the company revealed plans to introduce mandatory age verification, applying the policy to all users.
Immediately, the announcement faced immense backlash across social media and online forums. Many users have criticized the move, arguing that it treats the entire user base as minors. Others have raised concerns about being required to submit sensitive personal information, including face scans or government IDs, to regain full access as verified adults.
Starting in March, Discord will consider any not-age-verified account as a minor, restricting their access to many communities and barring them from receiving messages from non-friends. These changes are aimed at safeguarding minors and providing a better experience for them, but many among Discord’s 650-million-strong userbase see them as an entrenchment against their privacy.
The reaction was not limited to complaints. Many are already looking for alternatives, pushing the Google searches for “Discord alternatives” to soar 10,000% compared to its previous monthly average.
Of course, this was great news for Discord’s competitors. Stoat (previously known as Revolt) has recorded the largest spike in interest, with searches rising about 9,900% over the past 48 hours. Stoat positions itself as an open-source messaging platform with a strong emphasis on privacy, an area where critics argue Discord is retreating.
Other services have also experienced notable growth in search traffic. Matrix has seen an increase of 2,133 percent, IRC has climbed 1,500 percent, and Mumble has gained 1,000 percent.
The age-verification policy Discord plans to roll out has already been controversial in other contexts. The UK tried a similar strategy to curb teen access to adult sites, requiring IDs for such access, but the effect was limited at best, as searches for VPN services soared to unprecedented levels, and things deteriorated further when one of the services entrusted to store users’ IDs was hacked and leaked sensitive information.
