Distilling The Internet Into Discord: We Join Markiplier’s Public Server

As part of what Markiplier has dubbed a ‘social experiment’ he opened up a publicly joinable Discord for a mere few hours. Catching this at bang on the right moment, SOMEHOW we managed to get through these sacred doors, and we’ve been snooping about for the past few weeks!

When the server occasionally decides to become operable… upon entering the first room aptly named ‘Your Neighbours Unfinished Basement’ you are met with a cacophony of spam, hungry Markiplier ‘senpai notice me’ posts and confusion.

I’m joined by Nicolle who also achieved the same feat to chat about it!

You told me you joined the server from day one, how did you find out about it and what did you get up to?

‘I found out about the server as I have Mark on notifications, he tweeted out about it.
I knew it would probably be hell, and at first it was as there was only one room. After a few minutes he made several rooms so people could branch off and talk more easily. Myself – I headed straight for the basement!…
I don’t know what that says about me…’

Once you start exploring the sheer noticeable depth of rooms, the wonderment kicks in.

Each individual space mapped out as a ‘room’ in Markiplier’s house, has developed an interesting subculture, spanning as far as generating its own hashtags on other social platforms like twitter.

Nicolle chooses to reside in the basement fondly dubbed a ‘basement dweller!’ (I am the basement grandma after all!). ‘all the rooms have their own feel to them,  there are quirks to alot of the rooms.’

It’s Evolution my dear Watson!

This is truly where the ‘social experiment’ part comes in. Watching a bunch of people develop a series of text chats into something gloriously more substantial. It’s truly an expression of how society organises itself, creating meaning and story behind a simple notion of a ‘fridge’ or ‘kitchen.’

‘It’s a hub for a huge community’ says Nicolle. ‘The server itself is one big family with each room being a closeknit subfamily within the whole. It’s not segregated and people roam around, but its nice that we all have a place to belong.’

Here are my top 5 rooms;

Honourable mention… The most notorious, The Screaming Room…

Started by Markiplier simply coining the title, the room still lives as a strong living human ‘din’ of endless noise. Nicolle remarks: ‘A place to go only if you hate yourself and want a slow, loud and painful death.’

WARNING: TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN!

5. The Office

Similar to ‘The Basement’, The Office is one of the sane and calm rooms you are able to enjoy conversation. Here the offerings of coffee, cookies, fineliner pens, papers and beanbags is a fantastic welcome. I’ve enjoyed watching the ‘office queen’ be educated on the ways of the ‘ninja sex party’ band, as Markiplier himself features in one of their videos.

4. The Bathroom

The sheer opposite of The Office here, I feel sorry for those that ever attempt to visit said bathroom from the office, and duly recommend holding it in. This is considered the ‘Not Safe For Work’ channel, of my brief curiosity visit… what I can tell you is if there is a type of fetish you haven’t heard of yet, you will have done so leaving the bathroom. (No screenshots here! They’ll blind your eyes!)

3. The Fridge/Trophy Room

Ironically the server DOES have a sense of order to it. With rules for the general server published in ‘The Fridge’ room by Markiplier himself. The ‘Trophy Room’ is where you can check your rank, which is earnt by simply being on the server and engaging in conversation. Once your rank hits level 8 you become known as a ‘kid’ and are able to join voice chat rooms. A feat Nicolle has proudly already achieved.

2. The Shed

Close contenders to ‘The Shed’ are ‘The Bowling Alley’ where you are instantly referred to as ‘Jim’ no matter your name and ‘The attic’ with everyone here dubbed as ‘atticultists’…

The Shed however is one of the rooms that has developed its own voice based around the concept of the room itself. Here, your encouraged to have ‘positive mental sheditude’, it’s an inclusional space and one of the few rooms where NOT spamming is valued!

1. The Jacuzzi

Featuring a Twitter petition to change said title to #chillcuzzi which also acts as the rooms official hashtag – as soon as you enter the Jacuzzi you will be met with an onslaught of ‘Chill’ being typed in protest to the craziness of the other rooms. I’ve had enjoyable lengthy conversations with members in this room, and if you can get past the ‘chill’ spam hopefully you should be able to achieve the same feat!

So what is this addictive attraction to one particular YouTuber all about, and how has a simple few hours of opening a space up generated so much wonderment in the community (or in the screaming room’s case general fear)?

Nicolle enlightens me, ‘I’ve been a fan of Mark for about 6 years now. I’ve watched him grow as a person and I feel like I’ve grown up with him. His content has been a constant for me through thick and thin no matter how I was feeling.

I did have the fortunate opportunity to speak to Mark! It was pure luck but something I will never forget. As I was there and active from the beginning it just so happened that night he came in each of the voice rooms to have a chat with us all.

He came from a humble beginning and his passion, drive and love for his fanbase has always been there and he strives to be better everyday. He gives everything he can and even raises amazing amounts for charity. He’s all round a great guy.’

So what are your thoughts? A collection of keyboard warriors or an incredible social experiment? A wondrous delight to prove we are the organisers of our own society giving a home for community, or nothing more than a wishful thinking way of dangling an opportunity to meet an idol?

Jess Banks