Yikes, I'm so out of touch. It guess it's the modern equivalent of flipping through pictures in a magazine, but I never really understood the entertainment value in that either.

Fwiw, it's the only way to post something on Youtube/Instagram/Facebook/etc. that: doesn't have a like count, has no comments, it's ephemeral, and anyone who responds to it basically is just sending you a private message than writing something everyone can see.

It's much better than posting the content normally and having to feel somewhat like a loser when nobody even likes/comments on it.

On Instagram I have like 6 photos uploaded the normal way. For years I've only used the "stories" system to engage with friends. It's far more personal. Don't knock it too quickly, you may find it's a step in the right direction.

I don't want it at the top of Google search as a marketing apparatus, though.

Everything you listed sounds like something that should be handled by permissions or settings, not a completely different media format.

> although voice-chat is the attractive bit for gamers

Join any big Discord gaming group and I guarantee you'll see more people chatting via text than using the audio functionality.

Discord attracted gamers because they could sync up during games, raids, etc (and on top of that you can advertise it through your status too). Otherwise it's Slack for people who don't want to feel like they're at work, in line with the spirit of the last few generations of gacha games (boost this server by paying, get more emojis for yourself by paying, etc)

I agree that the text is the major activity going on at any given moment because text remains a good asynchronous repository, but if they hadn't basically integrated mumble/teamspeak to slack I'm not sure the glitter would have been enough to stick, because gamers (and some groups of discussions) definitely do rely on those voice lobbies when actually being present.

I’ve seen this format aped by the NYTimes and I loathe it.