I feel like it harkens back to the days of lurking around IRC, chatting with randos about all sorts of stuff. I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment from it. The main difference is that conversations are persistent and you can (sort of) search them.

That said, pretty much every popular modern website is antithetical to the web’s foundational values, with persistent user tracking, monetizing everything, walled gardens, etc. It’s not a Discord exclusive problem.

Funny story: I recently received an email from discord threatening my account with suspension because I had simply lurked a server they found to be rule-breaking. I had forgotten about even joining it until I saw the email.