Paper 24: Discord Management For Creators
How to think about structuring and managing a Discord server
Discord is an incredibly powerful application for NFT creators and collectors, but it scares a lot of people.
Since I just launched an NFT project which provides a “token gated” Discord, here are some factors you definitely want to consider to create an online environment/community in which people can come together to enjoy themselves and collaborate in a safe manner. (You can check it out here if you are further intrigued.)
This is by no means a comprehensive guide - Discord is a complex beast - but I hope it’s helpful to showcase the power of Discord and help you to avoid some common/dangerous mistakes.
Have a great day.
B
What is Discord and why is it useful?
If you are not super familiar, Discord is an application in which groups can come together online to chat and share information/media. It is a very powerful tool because it is integrated with NFTs in the sense that you can gate certain areas of your Discord so that only particular NFT holders can access those areas.
The 32 Dreams Discord server: what a Discord server looks like
How does improper Discord management lead to danger for you and your community?
There are a variety of ways your Discord server could become compromised/unusable.
Hacks: You or one of your team members could get hacked and lose access to the server. The hacker could post a link to a fake NFT sale and your community could pay because they mistakenly thought it was an official sale;
Malicious links: Some links posted by nefarious actors might be malicious;
DMs: There are all sorts of scam DMs. You should be exceptionally careful about what information you share in DMs. Many scammers try to make you feel comfortable, and then ask to borrow money or ask for your personal/private data.
Imposters: Some nefarious actors pretend to be other people by changing their names and profile pictures to steal other identities.
What can you do to make sure you set up a safe Discord which makes sense?
1 - Educate yourself
Read as much as you can about Discord security.
Firstly this is important so you have a baseline understanding of what you are dealing with.
Even more important: it is essential to have a baseline understanding so that when you ask people to help you have some idea of what they are doing with your Discord.
Consider the admin rights to your Discord like the keys to your online business. You have to understand what the people are doing with your keys and their access.
Here’s a great thread you could start with by Wil who’s work I found in vgf’s reading list - a great resource for you to learn about many Web 3 topics.
2 - Enlist help
It’s great to get a foundational understanding, but you may not be able to get to a level, or even have the time, to execute the setting up of the Discord alone.
There are a good number of trusted people with good reputations to whom you could reach out. That person for me was Endless Traveler.
You shouldn’t expect this work to be done for free. It’s a very important job.
As such, you’ll need to either come up with a financial package or an NFT package (or a combination of both) for this help, the extent of which will depend on how much support you need and for how long.
Mr. Traveler was kind enough to share this excellent resource by Jon to test myself. This is why having the right people to support you is important. I’d recommend you take the quiz too.
3 - Find people to help you run the Discord
Don’t wait until you are overrun with demand and people are messaging 24 hours per day to ask for help. Making a rushed hiring decision in this context is probably unwise.
Find someone/people who you trust beforehand, agree some terms if they’d like to join if you need them, so they are ready.
This isn’t straightforward, because people have all sorts of different schedules and commitments, but it’s worth trying to sort early.
4 - Set up the right number of channels
Think hard about the purpose your Discord serves.
We are running a cohort with weekly material, so it makes sense for us to have weekly rooms where information can be shared.
We have a general chat to discuss the work as the weeks pass by, and a bonus section for more miscellaneous benefits/opportunities.
You can also see some “official” channels for more official documents/content.
Discord channel setup: this serves our purpose as an educational cohort
5 - Set up the right permissions for each channels
This you want to think about a bit more.
Questions to consider:
How much do you want viewable by any member of the public who enters the Discord?
How much do you want ONLY viewable by tokenholders?
How much do you want ONLY viewable by official team members?
In which channels can the public post, if any?
In which channels can tokenholders post, if any?
Are there any restrictions you want to apply to posts (no links? no gifs? time limits for posting so people can’t post repeatedly?)
Here is what we decided:
Everyone: All “official” channels can be viewed by everyone, as this gives a nice preview of the full experience, without giving up some of the core information that is exclusive to our NFT holders. They can post in “Welcome” channel, but no links.
NFT holders: Can see all channels apart from the “team admin” channels. They can post in “Welcome”, and “General”. “General” is where the NFT holders can have more in-depth discussions with us. They cannot post in the “Week 1, 2, 3 etc” channels, because we want people to see the info we post easily and for it not to get lost above a lot of conversation. They also cannot post links.
This works for us, for now, but will be under review. It takes into account our specific purpose as a community and provider of services. Think carefully on your purpose.
6 - Consider the user journey and verification
You want users to come in smoothly.
What channel do you want them to land in? What rules should they agree to? How should they verify their NFT if they have one?
All of this should be considered and designed in a way that is smooth for the user.
We had people agree to our “rules” and “points to remember” before they could join the discord, after which they could interact in “welcome”, after which they could “verify” if they have the NFT for further access.
We also used Vulcan for verification so no-one needed to connect their wallet anywhere (better for safety).
7 - Set rules and disclaimers
Our rules are fairly standard. Most projects have something like this.
Some useful general rules: fairly generic NFT project rules
But our “points to remember” are very specific to us. You can see why we chose them as a project delivering this type of education.
Points to remember: some very specific points included which are relevant to our product/service
8 - Set expectations
You want people to get a sense of how they should use your server, and what they can expect from you.
As such, we created this message to set expectations.
Final thoughts
Discord is your home online. A community hub. It is very important to treat it it the way you would like your community to treat it: with love and respect.
Hope that was an interesting insight into the crucial aspects of setting up a Discord server.
Have a great day!
B
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Disclaimer: The content covered in this newsletter is not to be considered as investment advice. It is for informational and educational purposes only.
I hold some of the NFTs mentioned in these newsletters.