I know there isn’t a server dedicated to WaniKani and/or affiliated with WK, but I was wondering whether we could possibly consider some sort of instant messaging platform for our lovely WK community? I know there are a bunch of fairly popular Japanese learning servers on Discord, but I’d rather have a place to go to and talk about things that are WK-specific, because the WaniKani experience, in my opinion, is really special to our community. And while the forum here is obviously what makes it so, I feel kinda awkward creating topics everyday to talk about small and specific things on my mind…and maybe (??) others share my hesitation?
I’m sorry, I really don’t know how to explain what I mean. Essentially all I’m trying to say is that the forum here is beautiful, but it’s a bit formal in that you have to make topics to talk about specific things, whereas a complementary instant messaging platform that would be affiliated with this (even if unofficially) would make it easier to come out and just drop a casual message from time to time to strike up a conversation. It would also remove the social media validation cycle we tend to get stuck in with the whole like/comment system.
Wow, this wasn’t supposed to be a long-winded and complicated post. Pandemic isolation is getting to me. I’m just going to go back and bury myself in my lesson pile, thanks.
I personally would really like that. The forms are great for long term discussions but I’d want a place where I can pop in and have short term conversations.
For example, saying something like,
learning that the reading for 生える is はえる really threw me off for a bit.
would be nice but it really doesn’t warrant a whole new thread. So yeah, I agree, I’m in favor of a WaniKani discord.
I’m new to Discord, but if even 10 people show an interest in having a setup like that, I could try creating a server specifically for this purpose. It would be great to have the whole community on board honestly, but even something is better than nothing.
There are already multiple WK related discord servers (unofficial). They have been created for various reasons and you can join the one that fits your purpose.
One of these days I need to create a topic to put all WK related discord servers in one place for quick and easy reference.
From past comments by WaniKani staff members, I don’t think they will allow official or unofficial WaniKani Discords. Obviously you could create an “unrelated” Discord that people could join, but you probably can’t describe it as a WaniKani Discord.
Discourse (the platform the forums are built off) does actually have a private messaging feature, but it was disabled a while back on here due to a number of issues. And as @seanblue said, creating a discord is possible, but the staff definitely won’t like it if you freely advertise it on here due to concerns that have came up over the years. I can’t say I’m opposed to people creating discords though, but you should be discrete about it.
I wonder if there will ever come a time when all the older members are gone where there are only tales of a messaging feature on these forums and no one remembers the great incident that got it disabled.
I can’t give any details, but the announcement posted by the staff should be enough. For clarity, the disabling of messages were for safety reasons, but there were issues relating to both the messaging and open advertising of discord servers. It all just comes down to privacy/safety issues and that the WK team isn’t big enough to deal with all the possible issues that could arise.
Messaging feature happened during my long break from WaniKani, so for me it’s a myth already. It wasn’t here last time, it isn’t here now, I’m feeling like people are trying to trick me
Even with all the deletions, you can find out the gist of what happened with a diligent search.
But most of those who do can understand the decision.
That seems to the crux of it. Things like the read aloud discord are probably fine, but an open discord for WK in general are probably going to get shut down.
We still have one for the minecraft server a bunch of us played on. Im sure someone will respond if someone strikes up a convo (i did so during last week)
But yeah, its not affiliated with tofugu (WK) in any way and i made sure that was very clear when setting it up. If you search for the forum thread im sure you’ll find it (not posting it here because this part is visible to non members)
Funnily enough there’s the other issue that it takes away from discussion and activity on this website, so they also want to protect their own business in a way. Non-campfire threads are visible on google after all, which I’m sure has brought in a number of new users to WK.
I see, thank you for letting me know! I haven’t found anything of the sort yet, but based on what people have said on this thread, I’m rethinking the merits of joining one…we’ll see!
I’m feeling all sorts of guilty for even bringing it up now. I really wouldn’t want to upset the WaniKani staff, and what you’re alluding to does sound concerning.
I mean, I understand that actually. That was something I had at the back of my mind before posting too, that redirecting traffic from the forum to the instant messaging platform could affect things here too. I guess I snuffed out the concern with the consolation that most traffic on the IM platform would likely consist of the forum’s silent lurkers, with some wise and well-loved OGs choosing to join without detracting from their involvement on the main forum. But either way, not a happy thought.
Don’t worry about it too much, the staff don’t mind people asking about it. This question comes up in some form or another every now and then anyway and as long as you’re not creating a thread to advertise your “Unofficial WaniKani Discord”, they shouldn’t mind
