Discord, the popular chat application, has announced that its 400 million registered users will have to change their account names in the coming weeks. The new usernames will have a maximum length of 32 characters and will only allow Latin letters from a to z in lower case, with the exception of the underscore and the period. Special characters are forbidden. This means that there will be a much smaller selection of names available for users to choose from.
Previously, account names consisted of a term (case sensitive) and a four-digit number to differentiate between identical names. The unique username will now be supplemented by a new display name, which can be chosen much more freely and changed as often as users like. This display name will be displayed in most situations, such as in direct messages. The unique username, on the other hand, will be used for friend requests and to verify identity to others on the platform.
Discord’s co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy explained that previous usernames were far too difficult to remember and share outside of the platform. This resulted in around half of all friend requests on Discord failing, mostly because the username entered was incorrect. The new system is strongly reminiscent of the practices on social networks such as Twitter and Instagram, where shorter and more unique usernames are highly sought after.
To prevent a race for the most popular and short usernames, Discord will be rolling out the name-changing feature in a regulated order based on account age. The older the account, the sooner they can secure a unique username. This will ensure that those who have been there the longest will have the right of precedence.
Despite the strict specifications for the new user names, users can still let their imagination run wild with their display name. It can contain almost any character, does not have to be unique and will become the most prominent form of identity on the platform. It can be changed at any time, even every minute.
The decision to update the username system was not an easy one, and Discord acknowledges that it is difficult to say goodbye to a username that users have come to love. Nevertheless, it is an important step to prevent user errors and improve the platform’s user experience. Users will find out in due course in the Discord applications when they will have the opportunity to choose their new usernames.
