Discord — The Connection Needed for the Santa Clarita Valley
The COVID-19 pandemic quarantine order was the best way our government could keep us safe and healthy, but this same order separated friends, families, and many others. Without the ability to maintain physical contact and enjoy each other’s company face to face, it was time to move onto the next best thing — technological connection.
One of the most popular apps utilized during the pandemic, and remains extremely utilized, is Discord. As Mashable.com describes it, “Discord is a web-based communication app … On Discord, users can participate in voice and video chats, send private text-based messages, and take part in communities, which are called “servers” on the platform.” (Mashable.com).
This app originated as a way for gamers to easily connect and communicate during games. Santa Clarita resident Mike Escanilla states, “Discord helped me stay connected with friends and play video games with them while quarantined.”
However, during the pandemic it was utilized in numerous ways. All across the nation the app was being utilized as a tool for families to keep in touch, classmates to communicate with one another for help, companies such as NASCAR to launch social community platforms, people with similar interests to openly and responsively talk about their passions, and so much more!
As the Santa Clarita Valley works on rebuilding and reconnecting the community to what it was before the pandemic, I believe a Santa Clarita Discord should be implemented for the community so that members of the community can interact with one another and create connections within the valley.
Santa Clarita is primarily filled with middle-aged people who predominantly have social media presence. This not only makes them the perfect demographic for an app like Discord, but fits it in their daily interests as well.
Santa Clarita residents also strive for a sense of community. It is for this reason alone why the Instagram page @whatsupscv (posts about current SCV events, news, promos, and various information regarding the community) has 68.5k followers. Discord allows for the Santa Clarita Valley to build a better sense of community.
When asked about what role Discord played in his life during the pandemic, Santa Clarita resident Levi Grantz said, “It was nice to play videogames and hang out with friends, but also talk to strangers. We would have people from Australia and France show up sometimes too. They all just keep showing up on our discord channel. It is a tiny community and it keeps on growing.”
In order to implement Discord into the Santa Clarita Valley, I plan on sharing even more personal stories from Santa Clarita Discord users by having them answer the question, “What role did Discord play in your life during the pandemic?”
From my current findings, I have discovered that people really have a story to share rather than an easy one sentence answer. I aspire to report these findings in the style of Thecity.nyc’s report on New Yorkers losing loved ones to COVID-19. In order to fully encapsulate my story, I think utilizing a video format would be best as well as maybe incorporating photos of their discord servers (as pictured above).
Santa Clarita is a community full of loving people who strive for a deeper connection to their community. By implementing the pandemic loved app Discord to our community, we could help build a way for Santa Clarita residents to connect with one another on a shared digital space.
