Recently, I’ve been playing with the AI Image generator tool Mid Journey. The tool is one of the best out there, in my opinion, and produces some stunning images. However, one of the most unique things the Mid Journey team has done was build the tool into Discord! Instead of going through their own dashboard when you sign up, you instead are asked to join their Discord. Once there you’re prompted to sign in with your Discord account, and you’re free to explore.

What Is Discord?

If you’re not familiar with Discord it’s a group chatting application that allows you to build up a large community from thousands to hundreds of millions of users. You start by creating something called a Discord Server that will be the basis of your community. Within your server you’re able to create separate chats called channels, channels can either be voice or text channels, that are for your users to talk about specific topics. You can have a channel for conversations about technology, news, and gaming all within your own server. Discord even allows you to apply rules and moderation as you see fit to keep your community healthy.

Utilizing Discord

Let’s get back to what Mid Journey is doing. Once you’re in their discord you’re able to see a multitude of channels for image generation. Some are just playgrounds, and others are for specific themes of images. Now you might be wondering how can I even generate an image in a chat app like Discord. That’s where Discords power starts to shine. With Discord you’re able to build in your custom plugins that you can use within your server, and your users can access them using commands within the chat bar. For example in Mid Journey you can go to a general channel and type the command /imagine prompt and it’ll start executing it in that channel! Give it a few seconds then 💥 BAM! Your newly generated is available. After that you can view a live feed of other members in the Discord generating their own images, inspiring you to try something new out.

Discord’s Biggest Advantage 🚀

Discord has one thing over the majority of websites we build, and that is the sense of community. A Discord Server is a thriving living thing while a website can feel barren and empty. Community interaction feels natural on Discord. It’s common place to see people talking about server topics and even sharing content related to the server. This is invaluable to any brand or website. Imagine having a live feed of customers discussing your new product launch, or sharing videos/pictures of your product on a daily basis post purchase. As hard as we try, any website we build cannot come close to acquiring this level of community and in turn brand/product loyalty.

Replacing Your Website

Let’s look at an example of replacing a barber shop website with a Discord Server. Why a barber shop, well because I may or may not have had to get a hair cut recently 👀. After I scheduled my appointment You can create a channel for appointments (with a calendar plugin) , a channel for help, and a support channel if anyone needs to reach out to reschedule (it can be private so others do not see messages in here).

How about something trickier; a clothing brand. This might be the perfect utilization for Discord. You can have a channel for individualized types of clothing filled with the products, or a channel for new product drops. There’s a plugin that allows customer payments or payment redirects from Discord. However the biggest plus and a huge factor of why a clothing brand might want to move, is community interactions. As a brand you can create moderated channels for your customers to interact and discuss clothing. You can also have a channel for customer support that feels more responsive than the majority of products on the market right now.

I think these two examples might be seem narrow, but with creativity the majority of products can be modified from being standalone websites or web apps to Discord Servers.