OK to explaind on this just a bit. Slack is a Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge. That’s all it is. If all you do is talk shit on there, it’s going to be a repository of shit talking and that’s not slacks fault.
Personally, slack has saved me a countless amount of time at work. Having a technical problem? Search slack, someone probably asked about it and there’s a solution for that. If there’s no answer, asking in the right channel will usually get it answered pretty quickly.
Especially as a remote company, slack or a tool like it is pretty indispensable for working with my team. And yes, we talk a lot of shit on there and those conversations happen in shit talking channels which means they don’t clutter the productive channels but I can still bond with my team a bit.
I guess like any tool, it’s about how you use it. In this case though I don’t think you can blame the tool even though slack is definitely not perfect. It’s definitely far from Facebook, I honestly think you’d win some kind of record with that stretch.
Of course it’s not wise to talk shit on a company platform, but Slack is hardcore about privacy.
I’m our Slack admin. I cannot see a DM I wasn’t invited to. I cannot even see private channel names that I’m not invited to.
The only way Slack will divulge private posts, or posts in private channels, is if the account owner contacts support and makes a case for why they need to see anything private.
The danger in my mind isn’t someone without access, it’s someone with access taking screenshots and using them against you. That’s why I don’t say anything remotely shitty unless it’s on unrecorded audio.
I’d my work removed slack I am legitimately unsure how I’d communicate with my team at all. During meetings only, in tickets and in github reviews. Nice and clinical. Nah, I’ll keep slack ty
None of that is new to Slack. They could’ve written an article to make a decent critique of the questionable UI changes Slack introduced, but instead they targeted features that were already there for years, like reactions and huddle.
The new interface just wastes space and hides the notification count of unfocused workspaces. I just wish Slack would start making interface changes like these optional.
Slack simply serves as a form of social media for the office that reduces employee productivity.
JFC, I have not seen such a worse take in many years. The Slack redesign was annoying and I wished Slack would stop making the UI worse each update, but it’s still the lifeblood of our communication chain.
I agree that the “new” slack(disabling the cross channel thread sidebar) is a big deprecation in functionality. But calling it the “New Facebook” is hilariously absurd
2023 SEPTEMBER 14 TECHNOLOGY
Slack Is Basically Facebook Now
Slack’s redesign suggests that keeping up with Slack is the only work worth doing.
By Ian Bogost
image...Illustration of an office worker with an emoji-selection interface covering his head Illustration by Jared Bartman / The Atlantic. Source: Getty.
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“Oh,” I slacked my Atlantic colleagues earlier this week, beneath a screenshot of a pop-up note that Slack, the group-chat software we use, had presented to me moments earlier. “A fresh, more focused Slack,” it promised, or threatened. On my screen, the program’s interface was suddenly a Grimace-purple color. I sensed doom in this software update.
Slowly, over the days that followed, complaints about the new Slack started trickling into our chats. “folks I cannot handle this new version of slack and will be taking the rest of the month off,” one Atlantic staffer said. “I am reverting to sending physical memos on personal letterhead,” posted another. “all my slacks are: I hate the new slack,” slacked Adrienne LaFrance, the magazine’s executive editor. (Later on, she messaged me separately to see if I would write about Slack’s terrible new format.)
Ian Bogost is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.
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