Update: I've managed to get a Telegram account working, but I still don't trust it. For the moment, it's commissioner-only and requires us to have a backup chat that we can get in touch over. The risk is just too large otherwise that I'll build up a client-base on Telegram and then not be able to contact them if my account gets locked. I haven't been able to make any progress on Discord, and given the site's aggressive stance against 3rd-party tooling and API usage (as well as its continued embrace of AI "features"), it's not a high priority for me to figure out.

TLDR: I've tried every phone number combination I can realistically think of and looked into every strategy that's been suggested to me, and I do not know how to make an account on any of these platforms without getting immediately banned for the "crime" of having a VOIP number as my primary phone number. I'm not on these platforms because I can not join them.

I regularly get requests from friendly, well-meaning critters for me to join more mainstream Furry messaging apps - particularly Telegram and Discord. It's often surprising to them that I'm not on these platforms, and I think it would be good for me to write up a public explainer going over why they don't work for me.

The TLDR is that I can't join them. I have a VOIP telephone number as my primary number. None of these services will verify with my phone number, and there is no reliable method I've been able to find (temporary numbers, secondary numbers) where I can create accounts or trust that my accounts won't be banned.

★★★

Let's start with Discord:

Discord allows signup without a phone number, but if the service is ever accessed over a VPN (or if Discord just decides that it doesn't like you), your account will be locked without a phone number being used to verify.

Google Voice, Google Fi, Republic Wireless, or other commercial VOIP services or providers, temporary numbers, or anything similar can not be used for that verification.

It is pawsible that if I bought a disposable SIM, Discord would accept it. But looking around at options near me, that would be at least $50 to check with no guarantee that it would work - I could end up just wasting the money. If I was suddenly blocked from Discord, every conversation or contact I had on there would be lost - it would mean leaving commissioners unread suddenly with zero notification of why. It's a giant risk that I can't mitigate.

Another big issue is that Discord is also aggressive about 3rd-party API usage. I use APIs heavily to consolidate notifications of messages across multiple websites - it's really the only reason I'm able to keep up with comments on my pieces. Discord's default notification system (from what I can figure out) kind of sucks, and if I tried to improve it by wiring up the notification system I use for every other website I post on, I might get banned for it. Even something as simple as a browser extension can get you banned from Discord - so the site is just not a secure or feasible long-term place for me to build a home on. I can't standardize communication with commissioners on a platform that will ban me if I try to use it professionally and to adapt it into a professional, scripted workflow that allows me to keep up with messages.

It's too much of a risk - not only to me, but also to anypony contacting or commissioning me.

(Since writing this article, Discord has also doubled down on more aggressive verification requirements, added a bunch of AI bullshit, and has started even more aggressively clamping down on 3rd-party tools, likely because the company intends to more aggressively monetize its users in the future. I still don't have a reliable way to get a number that would work, but also I'm just less interested in using the platform at all now - and if Discord continues in its current direction, soon I'll lump it in with Twitter and refuse to make an account on principle. Not that it will matter, because I still have no idea how to make an account that doesn't immediately get locked.)

★★★

Let's talk about Telegram:

I have issues with Telegram - the app is bad at privacy and increases the likelihood of furries using it getting doxed or outing themselves to contacts. It also has some shady ties to extremist groups. But neither of those issues are so bad that I wouldn't make an account on it.

The real issue is that I can't. I've actually put a lot of effort into trying to make a Telegram account. Eventually, I did find a VOIP number that worked - a Google Voice number from a Google account I had made ages ago. I signed up, finally installed the app, breathed a sigh of relief that I had finally figured out a solution.

In less than half a day, before I even started using it, the account and the phone number were both permanently banned. Honestly, that was kind of the last straw, and it's why I'm now writing this post X3

I've read stories about critters using VOIP numbers with Telegram and getting their accounts banned out of the blue 6 months down the line. When that happens, there is no recourse - Telegram's support team famously does not respond to requests about bans. There is no way for me to make an account on Telegram that I can trust long-term - but there's also no way for me to make even a temporary account on Telegram. I've burned through every phone number and every service I can think of that I can realistically use - I don't know how to make a Telegram account.

(Since writing this, I've been able to make a Telegram account and now use it to communicate with a decent number of commissioners. I don't trust the platform (see above) and won't use it for general social accounts, but it is available to commissioners who request it. I'll also make a pitch for Signal here - for one-on-one commissioning purposes, I can't figure out what Telegram does that Signal doesn't do just as well. But Telegram is available as an option now. >w<)

★★★

Let's talk about Twitter:

Okay, this is one where I do have principled objections. Twitter is run by a fascist and it's a hellhole for artists. The site's algorithms are actively hostile - linking to external websites will get your post downranked in the algorithm. Tagging your artwork gets you downranked. There are very few if any tools to curb harassment - recently, Elon hinted that blocking too many accounts would get you downranked. Which makes group blocklists of commission spam/scam accounts impossible to use. This website fkn hates artists, seriously.

And did I mention the Twitter is run by a fascist?

It's very likely that if I tried to make a Twitter account, I would run into the same problems - I've heard plenty of stories about Twitter asking for phone numbers. But truthfully, Twitter is the one website on this list that I refuse to use no matter what.

Thankfully, while I don't have good alternatives to Discord/Telegram, there are two good alternatives to Twitter: Bluesky and/or Mastodon. I am on both. I have misgivings about Bluesky, but if you're used to Twitter it's a straightforward improvement in pretty much every way. It has better moderation, better feed support, it's not filled to the gills with advertisements and spam, and there are already a ton of furry artists there to follow <3. I'm at https://bsky.app/profile/foxyoreos.bsky.social. If you're used to Twitter and want something that feels similar without as much of the bullshit, join Bluesky.

Mastodon is a smaller network that differs from Twitter in some substantial ways - it's not for everypony. But I find it to be a really cozy place where I feel comfortable and safe, and as a result it's pawbably the network where I am most social out of everywhere online. If you're joining Mastodon I recommend the gulp.cafe, bark.lgbt, and cubhub.social instances - all of them are very cozy, federate with each other, and are run by floofs who I trust. My account is https://gulp.cafe/@foxyoreos.

★★★

There are two main reasons why I suspect critters like Telegram and Discord so much: sharing artwork in DMs, and proper notifications/chat around new artwork.

I don't want to dismiss the convenience of being able to open up your phone and get instant notifications that new artwork is available, and then to be able to chat or message about that artwork all in the same app. I understand the appeal, it would be really useful to be able to link a Discord account to Subscribestar. I would love a way to set up a private chat room where I could post art and chat with Subscribers, it would be great. And I'll be honest, the Discord and Telegram alternatives (Matrix and Signal) are not anywhere as good as the competition.

The reason I'm not on these platforms is not to be spiteful or to make some kind of statement about them - it's because I literally can't join them. And even if I could, I can't use platforms for coordinating commissions or send out art rewards if I'm constantly worried that some AI system on a server someplace is going to decide to randomly ban me because I forgot to turn off a VPN. The risk is just too high.

I'm open to suggestions about other platforms to look into. I'm currently testing out a Steam account (available on request) to see if it can serve as a way to send DMs to critters who want a better way of getting notifications from me. I also have email accounts I'm willing to share with commissioners if there are no other ways to coordinate art.

What I want furries to understand is that consolidating too heavily on hyper-commercial platforms like Discord/Telegram means that you will have a harder time communicating with some furries and some artists, through nopony's fault except for the platforms themselves. These platforms are not designed to be universally accessible, they don't care if everypony can sign up for them. I think that many furries assume that of course anypony could join if they wanted to - but I want to make it very clear that the phone number I have used for over a decade as my primary phone number - the number that I use for everything, including banking - that number will get me banned from these platforms. They are not accessible to everypony. Not everypony can make an account.

As part of my programming work in 2025 I'm going to be trying to address some of the underlying pawblems with notifications and messaging that make these platforms so useful - but I want to encourage you to try and set up some social media accounts on platforms that aren't so locked down and weird. If Steam works out for me - great, I'm happy to use Steam to help with messaging. If there are other platforms I can use that I'm not paying attention to, I'm willing to look into them.

I'd love to be able to keep in touch with you all, and I understand that for some of you, galleries aren't a great place to coordinate commissions or to get art updates. But for me to help with that, you need to be active on a platform that I (and furries like me) can actually join.