Yes, Discord is capable of hosting video calls, though I have never personally used it before.

Of course! 1) I believe there have been some issues of censorship from the heads of Discord, but most figurative servers (fig servers) are managed by those who started the server, and there are so many servers that it would be extremely difficult for a small cabal of moderators to manage them all in any meaningful way. So much of the censorship within the app likely comes from an individual level. 2) Within the app? It's very easy, there is no gatekeeping (I believe there is a cap to how many fig servers one can be a part of (~100)). I have included a picture here ( https://i.maga.host/imIEUp3.png ), but the basic process is: a) click the create server button, b) name the server, c) that's it. You can customize it more if you'd like, but if you want to have one, that is it. 3) There are no ads on Discord, they have a premium membership called "Nitro". Nitro allows you to upload larger files (such as photos, videos, .pngs, etc), and use features of other fig servers (such as custom emoticons/emojis). I believe there are other features that might make it more appealing to a larger organization (such as a college club), but I cannot recall them off of the top of my head. 4) **a)** The appeal of Discord is that it is extremely customizable, and synchronizes well with computer games. As for customization, you can create a private server (fig) for you and your friends to enjoy, or you can create/join a larger server (fig) to join a wider community. Additionally, Discord allows for some coding within individual fig servers, which can open up greater customization (I have never done this, so I can't tell you about the process). One can also add bots to their server, which can serve a wide variety of purposes, such as playing music, random number generators, I had a friend who told me about a server he was in that would post random pictures of cats if you requested. **b)** As for synchronizing well with computer games, it has a simple to use, high-quality voice chat feature that is useful when playing team games, or just for chatting. **c)** As for distinguishing itself, Discord does not have "posts" in the same way Facebook, Reddit, Ruqqus, or Twitter have. There is no separate conversations going on at the same time, it is more a "stream of consciousness" style of social media. The most separation one can get is by having different "themed" channels. It is extremely similar to a group chat on SMS/phones/ Whatsapp/etc. The photo I included is fairly typical of a small Discord server. Of the platforms you mentioned, I would say it is most similar to Twitter, but not by very much. A group chat really is the best way to describe it. 5) Most of the interaction comes from many Reddit users having a Discord account, it is rather popular after all. It is capable of some interaction with other sites (notably Twitch). By "linking" accounts, basically by telling Discord that you have an account somewhere, and it keeps a log of that. From then it can share information between the two, which can be used in various manners. For example, if someone has a Twitch subscription to a particular streamer, they can link their Twitch and Discord together, so that the subscriber can have special privileges in that streamers Discord server. (It is possible to limit who can and cannot post, and to what degree they can post, within a fig server settings. example of linking accounts ( https://i.maga.host/Kcp7IDu.png ) Hope that answered some of your questions!

Of course! I have no training in telecommunications, so my answers here might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I'll do my best! 1) Discord is available as both a mobile app as well as a computer application, which can be downloaded online. 2) If you're asking if it is open source vs owned by a central company, then it is owned by Discord Inc. So a central company. 3) The term "server" is figurative, but Discord Inc owns several actual servers on which they host all the figurative servers. 4) Unfortunately, I am not deep enough in the weeds to answer this question, but based on my surface research on the OSI it seems your initial assumption is correct. You would be better served by a more server-knowledgable individual, apologies v-v) Good luck in your search!

Discord is a chat-app, where one can create groups to talk (either with voice or with text) to groups of people, or one can direct message someone. Think of it like texting with the option of creating group-texts. Discord often has "themed" groups, so there may be a discord group for liking Donald Trump, Biden, Call of Duty, anime, etc. anything you want really. You often need invitations to join these groups, but some are available for anybody. Discord has many functionalities that it is capable of, but if you're just interested in using it normally: Discord is broken up into "Servers", or individual groups. Within those groups, a server can be further broken down into channels, which are denoted by a "#". So within a server you may have #general, #art, #politics, #memes, etc. it really depends on what the server is. The channels are meant to organize conversation. Additionally, there are voice channels, which are denoted by a volume button. These can also be broken down into categories. But these are just voice calls. You can limit them, only allowing in certain people or a certain amount of people. And that's about it! There's smaller details, but they're not all that important.