Encryption key handling is horrible. It makes Matrix a terrible choice for non-technical users.
As a replacement for IRC, it's fine. Bridging is limited to a small handful of platforms, or a limited set of fairly technical users with access to money to run cloud services and the willingness to take on maintenance of a hodgepodge of software services and the corresponding network security risks. I'd argue that this part was poorly thought out. It puts the core value features out of reach of the majority of the population.
It would have been better to focus on a client-side bridging design. Or, something more accessible. And the fucking horrible encryption design, oy.
I think more people would understand what you mean if you asked for community recommendations (or space recommendations if you want to use the Matrix-specific term). What Discord calls a "server" is not a server in any normal sense of the word, so it's going to confuse people who aren't Discord regulars, especially when we're talking about a different network that has actual servers and self-hosting support.
It doesn't matter which server you are on;You can join any Matrix rooms. Additionally, you can bridge your important Discord announcements or chats using t2bot.io .
opt-in analytics! servers running Synapse can choose to send a bit of analytics information like number of users, but it's opt-in so the number is potentially even higher
Matrix is decentralized, as the servers are independent from each other. They choose to cooperate, so that people can talk to each other. But the servers are run by different people or organizations and act independently. Or do I get it wrong? If so, can you explain why Matrix is not decentralized?