Thank you! You make some excellent points, especially about access.

I appreciate that Discord gave me an opportunity to integrate into fandoms in a way I would not have otherwise, but I can recognize it's now being used a little too much for things it just isn't ideal for. I'm personally of the opinion that fandom Discords work best when they are small, focused groups that have a specific goal or something in common besides the fandom, and that a Discord server definitely should not be the entry-point for a fandom community.

I haven't delved much into using Reddit, but I could see how the functionality might lend itself to fandom discussion. I would also love to see more forums, and maybe more efforts to make forums easier to use for newbies. I know some people have a knee-jerk reaction of avoiding forums because the UI feels outdated to them, and while I don't agree, I think it's something to consider as to why Discord in particular has gained so much popularity: the more "modern" look and feel.

Also, as a somewhat paranoid tech fandom person, I also favor sites which are run by fans and give users some level of control, which is probably why I've taken to Dreamwidth more than any other site I've tried in recent years.