The Lotus Project and the Steem blockchain are both designed around the idea of community. There are a multitude of different manners in which one can engage with the community while interacting with the blockchain. One of these tools, and a personal favorite of mine (@alchemage), is a program called Discord. You can click on this link to download the program to your phone or to your desktop, and create an account.

What is Discord and Why Go There?

Discord is advertised on their website as an"All-in-one voice and text chat for gamers that's free, secure, and works on both your desktop and phone." Basically, it's a chat program that allows you to join different servers, which each tend to have their own specific focus (such as our own server being focused on Natural Medicine), thus allowing you to communicate in real-time with other users.

How do I join a server?

Discord requires that you know the server you are trying to join by having a server invite. You'll have to ask someone directly if you cannot find a server invite from a post on the blockchain.

Here is an invite to join the Natural Medicine server: Natural Medicine Discord Server Invite.

How do I navigate a server?

Each server has its own unique subset of channels which each are tailored to the needs of the server. In the Natural Medicine server you will find channels like general-chat and learn-lotus. The name of the channel typically denotes what that channel is dedicated for, but often there are rules to these channels. To find the rules you'll need to look at the pinned messages which can be found at the top of the chat box by clicking the small thumbtack icon.

What is the etiquette?

Many servers have an introduction channel where you can write a short, or long, entry about who you are and why you joined the server. Sharing your intentions helps others to connect with you and point you in the right direction with the server. Introductions are not necessary, but they do help grease the wheels a bit. If you are not apt to provide an introduction, its best to talk to other members of the community before sharing your posts, versus just dropping a bunch of links without engaging the server. Generally, people are very kind and willing to help if you have any questions about what is allowed in a particular server.

Why Discord?

If you're not the chatty type, Discord might not be your thing. That's absolutely fine - it takes all sorts to make this beautiful world go around. Many people like the real time social aspect of Discord, and it keeps more 'deep and meaningful' conversations off the blockchain, where they are recorded forever. You might also notice radio shows and chat functions for real time voice chatting.

In the Natural Medicine server you'll also find links to posts that explain 'how to' guides for LOTUS and all things specific to this tribe, as well as a channel with books, podcasts and course links that people like to share. We also list our community jobs, and images that other users might find useful.

Although some people don't like Discord because it takes things 'off chain', until there's a really good 'on chain' way to communicate and organise 'behind the scenes' work, Discord is worth a look, even if you just drop in from time to time and get to know people.

          

@naturalmedicine   |   Discord Invite   |   #naturalmedicine

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