Strikethrough in Discord

Introduction to Discord and Text Formatting

Discord, launched in 2015, is a widely popular communication platform designed primarily for gamers but has evolved into a diverse hub for all types of communities, including developers, educators, and hobbyists. With voice, video, and text-based communication channels, it is a comprehensive tool for interacting with others. One of Discord’s key features is its simple yet versatile text formatting system. Whether you want to emphasize a point, correct yourself without deleting the original message, or inject humor, Discord’s text formatting options—like bold, italics, and strikethrough—allow users to convey tone and emotion effectively.

Understanding Strikethrough on Discord

The strikethrough text formatting feature is often used to show that something has been crossed out, which can imply humor, correction, or retraction of a statement. It is a way of showing irony, self-correction, or indicating that a particular thought has been rejected or is no longer valid.

In Discord, strikethrough is represented visually by a horizontal line drawn through the middle of the text. The application of strikethrough, however, is not unique to Discord but has long been used in various forms of written communication, particularly digital. Whether it’s in emails, blog posts, or social media platforms, strikethrough is a critical tool for textual nuance.

How to Use Strikethrough in Discord

To use strikethrough in Discord, you need to use a simple text formatting command. Here’s how:

1. Open any chat window in Discord where you want to send a message.
2. Type your message within two sets of double tildes (~~). For example, if you want to strike through the word “mistake,” you would type ~~mistake~~.
3. Hit enter, and your word will appear with a line through it: mistake.

It’s that simple! Strikethrough works on both desktop and mobile versions of Discord, making it a flexible tool for users on all devices.

Practical Uses of Strikethrough in Discord

Strikethrough text isn’t just a quirky visual effect; it serves several practical purposes in online communication. Let’s take a closer look at how you can use strikethrough effectively on Discord:

1. Humor and Irony:
   Strikethrough is often used to inject humor into a conversation. For example, if someone says, “I hate love working on weekends,” the strikethrough helps convey the sarcastic tone, showing that the speaker is ironically expressing the opposite sentiment.
2. Self-Correction:
   Instead of editing a message and removing the incorrect part, users can strike through the error to show what was changed. For instance, “We’ll meet at 4 PM 3 PM” is clearer than just editing the message to replace the time.
3. Retracting Statements:
   If someone made a statement they later want to retract or modify, strikethrough serves as a quick way to indicate the retraction without fully erasing the original text. This is particularly useful in group discussions where revisions need to be tracked.
4. Mock Emphasis:
   Sometimes, people use strikethrough to emphasize how ridiculous or unimportant a statement is. For example, typing “I’m the best trying my best” adds a playful or self-deprecating tone to the message.
5. Organizational Use in Community Servers:
   In larger servers, particularly those used for project management or organization, strikethrough can be useful for marking tasks as completed. For instance, in a list of tasks:

• Finish writing report
• Submit presentation
  The strikethrough immediately communicates which tasks are finished.

1. Polls and Voting:
   In informal text-based polls, strikethrough can be a great way to cross out options that have been disqualified or decided against. It’s a visual cue that helps to manage choices within discussions.

Advanced Text Formatting in Discord

Strikethrough is just one of the many text formatting options available on Discord. To enrich your messages even further, here are a few more ways to format text:

1. Bold: Use ** before and after your text to make it bold. Example: **bold** becomes bold.
2. Italic: Use * or _ to italicize text. Example: *italic* becomes italic.
3. Underline: Use __ to underline text. Example: __underline__ becomes underline.
4. Combination Formatting: You can combine multiple formatting options. For example, **__~~bold, underline, and strikethrough~~__** produces bold, underline, and strikethrough.

In addition to basic formatting, Discord also supports more advanced text features like code blocks and spoilers:

• Code Blocks: For multi-line code snippets, use triple backticks (“`) to create a code block. This is especially useful for developers sharing code snippets in tech-related Discord servers.
• Spoilers: To hide content that may be a spoiler for others, use || around the text. For example, ||This is a spoiler|| hides the text until a user clicks to reveal it.

The Importance of Formatting in Online Communication

The strikethrough feature, along with other text formatting tools, plays a crucial role in online communication. In the absence of facial expressions, vocal tone, or body language, text formatting helps convey meaning, tone, and emotion that might otherwise be lost.

Text formats like strikethrough bring clarity, tone, and even humor to conversations that would otherwise rely solely on plain text. Given the broad use of Discord for casual chats, business meetings, and collaborative projects, having the ability to tweak and format text helps foster clearer, more effective communication.

For instance, during team collaboration in a Discord server, using strikethrough allows for transparency and honesty in discussing decisions. It helps preserve previous ideas while signaling new ones. Similarly, the ability to bold, underline, or italicize text helps keep important details noticeable, ensuring nothing gets lost in a lengthy discussion thread.

By empowering users with these tools, Discord makes written communication more dynamic, flexible, and efficient.

Conclusion: Enhancing Communication on Discord

Discord’s text formatting features, especially strikethrough, are not just simple aesthetic tools. They are essential for enhancing communication, especially in an environment where users rely on text to convey messages clearly. Strikethrough text can be used for humor, corrections, marking tasks as complete, or adding a layer of nuance to a message. By learning to use these features, users can make their conversations more engaging and impactful.

In the fast-paced, digital-first world of today, the ability to communicate effectively using the available tools—such as strikethrough in Discord—can make all the difference in getting your message across, whether for fun, for work, or for collaboration.