Communities on Discord have the power to help bring people together from across the globe. For Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Month, we’re shining the spotlight on two AANHPI-owned communities on Discord that make their communities feel like home and bring the world closer together — both digitally and physically.
The following communities were recommended by Discord’s AANHPI Employee Resource Group (ERG for short).
If you’ve been a longtime Discord fan, you might recognize the Design Buddies community already: Grace Ling and her buddies can be seen on both the Discord Creator Portal and our Community Resources site. On top of that, Grace has shared some professional design tips for making your Discord profile shine and has even appeared in-app if you’re a server moderator that can see the Community Onboarding feature in Server Settings.
It’s for good reason that Design Buddies has grown so much: it’s become one of the largest communities for design professionals of all skill levels to connect, learn from one another, and meet fellow colleagues. Some even land a sweet new design gig through the Discord community!
“We've had many people land jobs and find freelance roles through Design Buddies,” explains Grace Ling “We've helped companies hire designers from our community. We also helped design tools and educational companies get more users for their products!”
There’s always stuff to do in Design Buddies. From IRL meetups that can reach upwards of two hundred buddies to weekly panels in the server held by professionals around the industry, you’ll easily find something to participate in or listen in on.
If you’re an aspiring designer or are looking for new colleagues currently in the industry, Design Buddies is just a quick search away in Server Discovery.
If you’re interested in uncovering the mysterious, the unnerving, or the unknown, you’re designed to enter: ARIA 51.
Aria Inthavong is a YouTuber and creator who focuses on what he describes as the “intersection behind true crime, travel, and the larger cultural issues surrounding them.” While that may seem like a pretty serious subject — and at times, it can be — that doesn’t mean his Discord community is also mysterious and moody.
It’s quite the opposite: Aria’s community gives everyone a warm, heartfelt welcome as they enter a rather niche community of friends who are also interested in true crime and the sometimes scary. Sometimes, it may even be Aria himself greeting you with a warm welcome as you join.
Stick around long enough and on top of connecting with some rad new friends, you may even take part in Aria’s content creation: Aria explains: “We had a couple of wonderful community IRL meetups last year in both Singapore and the Philippines. In both countries, I was able to connect with local members of the community who guided me in my work, as well as ultimately meet them in person during these meetups!”
One of Aria’s server admins puts it best: “Aria's presence in his content as well as the server assists people to look beyond their location and into the world around them to learn everything there is to know. Be it a new place they never knew, a new way of life, or a new story, Aria's worked hard to cultivate a self-sustaining atmosphere of learning and constant curiosity.”
If this sounds like an Aria on Discord that feels perfect for you, you’ll find ARIA 51 and his “wolf pack” in Server Discovery. 🐺
We’re committed to supporting and advocating for organizations that help create an inclusive, equitable world for the AANHPI community. As we celebrate AANHPI month, Discord will be directly supporting three organizations that directly contribute to this mission: the Asian Mental Health Collective, the National Queer API Alliance, and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. We encourage you to take a look at their websites and hope you do the same!
Throughout the month, Discord’s AANHPI ERG will be running tons of workshops under the overarching theme of “Uniting Our Stories.” Along with giving a warm welcome to the new “NH” addition to the name for Native Hawaiians, members can join in on conversations with mental wellness partners, learn about the different AANHPI communities throughout the world, and enjoy a movie night with members of Discord’s Pride ERG!
We’re always looking for new friends to join us at Discord. If building belonging both outside and within Discord sounds like something you’d be interested in, take a peek at our careers page.
