We here at 91.8 The Fan would like to announce that we will be converting over to the Discord chat program beginning October 8th. We have come to this decision after careful research and consideration. We feel that this move will improve the community experience for everyone. Please allow us to explain our decision and assist you in this online migration.

The chat system we are currently (or previously) using is Internet Relay Chat or IRC. While IRC has been our online chat hub for many years, it does have issues. Splits, security holes, and a dwindling user base are some of the reasons we decided to migrate from IRC. While IRC can be considered a mainstay of the internet, we want to give our users a chat experience that is easier and more functional to use; hence the switch to Discord.

Discord is a free voice chat program geared towards gaming. There is no cost to using Discord; we would not use Discord if it did. While they are currently developing ways to monetize itself, the current plan is to sell cosmetics and not hamper the communication in anyway. Discord is meant to run alongside computer/video games, so it won’t strain your computer’s processing power. It is available on all major operating systems, including Android and iOS. That means you can have Discord on your smart phone and chat with us anywhere you like (I would also like to point out that you can use the TunedIn app to listen to us anywhere you like). While Discord is a program you are meant to download and open to use, you can also run it straight out of your browser if that is what you prefer.

The Fan has already been in Discord to investigate its use and to prepare for our public opening. There are many features that we think you’ll enjoy. The user interface is much easier to use then in IRC. You can click to switch channels, servers, go to help, or to emote. Besides text, you can post pictures, gifs, or even Youtube videos right in the chat. While Discord does have voice chat, we will not have voice chat in our public channels. We do want you to listen to our actual radio station. There are plenty of other Discord severs where voice talking is allowed and you are free to go talk in those. We do advise you use a bit of caution as we do not monitor other servers. Another reason to make our Discord server your chat home is our new and improved BrieBot! We finally resurrected her and she’s ready to party once more. Over very own Siege is remaking her harder, better, faster, and stronger.

While many things change, some things remain the same. 91.8 is always committed to providing an online chat experience that balances safety and freedom. We will still oversee the chat to ensure everyone is enjoying it. We will still maintain our rules and take action against those would break them. We do not allow cursing until 10:00 pm PST to be family friendly. We will step in to stop harassment and other jerk-like behaviors. We do not allow discussion of how to obtain illegal sources of anime as it is the official position of The Fan to support the industry whenever possible. We do not allow impersonation of staff for obvious reasons. Luckily, we rarely have to enforce these rules since we know the vast majority of our community are all right people.

We at The Fan are always looking for ways to improve the experience for our users. While change does have it’s challenges, the reward is worth the risk. We’re moving to Discord and we hope you’ll join us. We’ll be glad to help you adjust to this new environment. You can download Discord here and enter our server here. We’ll be there waiting for you.