Switch from Slack to Discord

Support Network Internal Comms
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We’re switching to Discord from Slack!

Reasons for the Switch

  • Slack is technically only available for people 16+ while Discord is for 13+
  • Greater number of young people already use Discord so we’ll have increased engagement
  • Discord has better tech accessibility because it works on more phones than Slack does
  • Discord has better moderation tools because it’s built for large communities

Todos

Create Discord instance for Youth Power Coalition
Create channel organizational scheme
Create onboarding process to put people in the right channels
Announce switch in Slack
Change invite link on the automatic Member Interest Form email
Move Slack channel descriptions, bookmarks, and pinned messages over
Change admin account
… Make server messages come from admin account
… Change user profile name and picture
Set server rules
Ask collective voice to set up new Open Collective automation
Add moderators
Attend first circle meeting of every new year to have a Discord onboarding
Archive Slack team with redirect to Discord
Update internal comms documentation
Create deeper Discord Policies and Procedures document

FAQs

When will this switch happen?

We’ll start moving people over in July and be officially switched a week after every circle meets for the first time in August/September 2023.

What if I don’t know how to use Discord?

We’re here to help! Ask your questions by replying to this topic. Ask your fellow circle members for support. Check out Beginner’s Guide to Discord.

What happens to the old Slack space?

You can continue reading all the messages there. We’ll keep access to it for reference purposes.

Who’s invited?

All existing Slack users. Anyone who fills out the member interest form, is invited by a YPC member, or who attends a YPC event.

What do we add to meeting agendas for the switchover?

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@jessizheng @alexandrastillman @erinac4163 Anything to add to this project plan?

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Here are the server rules I added! I took language from our Meeting Agreements and from Discord’s default language because I figure they worked really hard to make the rules easy to understand and clear.

Directions from Discord on how to set rules: Rules Screening FAQ

The rules I added:

  1. Be inclusive of people of all identities, particularly those most impacted by inequity. Absolutely no harassment, sexism, racism, classism, adult-centrism, or hate speech will be tolerated.
  2. Follow our values of lead with love, build in public, own our impact, embrace emergence, and act on principle.
  3. Keep conversations in Discord. Do not split the community by moving people to other communication platforms. When you need your own channel or need to invite people who don’t use Discord, ask #communications for support.
  4. Do not share screenshots or quotes outside of Discord unless you have people’s consent.
  5. No age-restricted or obscene content. This includes text, images, or links featuring nudity, sex, hard violence, or other graphically disturbing content.
  6. Use your preferred name as your server nickname so we know who’s in the community. We’re real people! (Create a new Discord account to use with YPC if you want your current Discord account to be anonymous).
  7. If you see something against the rules or something that makes you feel unsafe, let our moderators know. We want this server to be a welcoming space!
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Feedback from D., who has never used Discord before.

Make something for people who are new to Discord. Explain what it’s for and what all of the things are. —I put a link to the Beginner’s Guide to Discord.
Channel descriptions (like coordinating what? what’s in random?) —Added this to the start-here explanation.
So many exclamation marks are distracting. —Limited myself to two exclamation marks. :slightly_smiling_face:
Why did it put us straight in the voice channel? — I deleted the voice channel since we don’t use it
Add channel content