Why we’re betting against real-time team messaging

This makes a good point that Slack can sometimes just be a better hamster wheel for time wasting. I have seen it work well as an emergency channel, where dev's could quickly share info if a live app was having a problem. But at the same place, the most lively channel was an exchange of GIFs.

Re: Why we’re betting against real-time team messaging

#5

Post by joneholland » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 1:04 PM UTC

So you built Basecamp?

Re: Why we’re betting against real-time team messaging

#6

Post by akhilcacharya » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 1:09 PM UTC

jwildeboer wrote: post #3

TL;DR they made a modernised version of an nntp client and server ;-)

I mean, isn't Dropbox just prettier rsync?

Re: Why we’re betting against real-time team messaging

#7

Post by mkohlmyr » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 1:09 PM UTC

I like it. I've been thinking for a while that old-school forums are actually fundamentally superior to chatrooms for sharing important information and having in depth discussions.

In my opinion the chat model is simply bad for effectively distributing useful information because it disappears in the noise.

Perhaps what's needed is a combination of the forum-style threaded conversation model for information sharing and work conversations and a chat room which is explicitly for the water-cooler stuff, so that people don't have to be always-on (and constantly interrupted). It should be safe to turn off when you need to focus.

Re: Why we’re betting against real-time team messaging

#8

Post by jasonkester » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 1:12 PM UTC

I worked at a Slack shop for several years, and share the author's opinion.

I can't think of any five minute period during my entire tenure where the Slack tab didn't have a little red circle telling me that I absolutely needed to check it right this second. There was no way to filter notifications beyond "Everything", so that little bubble would go up every time anybody in the company pressed a key. And heaven forbid somebody typed "Good morning, @channel" (which happened 20 times per morning per timezone), because then you'd get the dreaded Red Exclamation Mark in the tab.

I can't fathom how anybody would have been able to work if they had gone as far as allowing notifications to be turned on and make noises at them every time Slack thought something Important Enough To Interrupt You had happened.

Re: Why we’re betting against real-time team messaging

#9

Post by ryanmarsh » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 1:14 PM UTC

mkohlmyr wrote: post #7

I like it. I've been thinking for a while that old-school forums are actually fundamentally superior to chatrooms for sharing important information and having in depth discussions. In my opinion the chat model is simply bad for effectively distributing useful information because it disappears in the noise. Perhaps what's needed is a combination of the forum-style threaded conversation model for information sharing an…

I disagree. It takes all kinds. There isn't one right way for people who work together to communicate. Real time messaging solves a specific set of needs but is not the end-all be-all. Threaded more thoughtful forum style communication is important too, it's much better than email for that sort of thing. Email is also important for what it's best at.

Work communication isn't a technology problem as much as it's a human problem.

Just off the top of my head here are a few types of communication that need to happen at work. In modern work we can assume not everyone can be in the same physical space.

* solve an important problem right now

* find consensus on a complicated problem where opinions vary and emotions run strong

* info everyone needs to be aware of now

* info only a few people need to be aware of now

* info that might be of use within some time horizon for few or all

* relationship/trust building (small talk, gossip) don't dismiss the value of this one

Re: Why we’re betting against real-time team messaging

#10

Post by underwater » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 1:14 PM UTC

mkohlmyr wrote: post #7

I like it. I've been thinking for a while that old-school forums are actually fundamentally superior to chatrooms for sharing important information and having in depth discussions. In my opinion the chat model is simply bad for effectively distributing useful information because it disappears in the noise. Perhaps what's needed is a combination of the forum-style threaded conversation model for information sharing an…

It's called Facebook Workplace. Balance of Messenger for immediate communication, groups for threaded conversations, and feed for discovery.