Even for tech savy people the security settings (i.e. cross-signing and backups) are confusing and Element points you straight towards them, without sufficient explanations.
Element is (impressively enough) also much more buggy than Discord.
I find it actually pretty straightforward for a non-technical person. The default settings all work fine. The more complicated stuff is relatively buried.
Matrix I feel is one of the better os for newbies
You just send them towards element.io. Or at least that's what I did with my friend, when I wanted them to switch
Is it, though? It's intended to be a public forum either way. As the MPAA and RIAA should have learned, you can't really keep a public secret.
Using Discord just makes that transparent. You're absolutely being spied on, instead of jumping through a bunch of hoops to give yourselves false confidence that you're not being spied on.
Sure. It's an easy gotcha. But if you consider it a bit more it makes sense.