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A case for using punctuation in Slack

blog.mitchjlee.com

41–50 of 274 posts

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#41
The message beyond the HN title actually has potential. However, the author focuses in some odd places for me.

As far as punctuation, ending periods actually have negative emotion in text vernacular now for younger audiences and should almost never be used in 1-1 messaging. Exclamation points, commas, and question marks, great!

For abbreviations, it's simply know your audience. You should use them when everyone in the room knows them, but you have to think about that first before use. The step of thinking about it is a great mental step to add, but the article presents it more as a steadfast rule. Also, expanding them in parentheses can be a chance to educate your audience for the future even when you have people who don't know, like I'll do below :P

To me, the smallest point was actually the most interesting and valuable, and it was skated over entirely - communicating emotion and sentiment, particularly through emoji use. With WFH (Work From Home) especially, communicating emotion is very socially helpful. I've found a lot of engineers think "well I don't care/need so I'll skip the flowery additions for efficiency" and then leave many non-tech people and some engineering coworkers to decipher if this random slack ask is mad, passive aggressive, inquisitive, or a check-in. This has far worse effects longterm often than an unknown acronym.

Adding emojis can solve this, or if you don't like those, literally giving more social context in words can also do the trick. When we're talking in person, we always communicate emotion, even when it's not the primary purpose. I think many would do well to include that in their online messaging as well :)

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#42
post #27

I feel like (so, of course, this is how I use instant messaging) periods at the end of a message suggest the logical conclusion of a thought, and are far too formal to use with every message. Email, sure, but not chat. (I do use question marks and capitalize in general, but periods in particular seem strange to me.)

Could you explain this more because it's completely foreign to me. For me a period is the end of a sentence. It has nothing to do with ending the message I'm trying to get across. Is this a cultural or generational or professional field difference? I'd never heard of the idea that a period would be too formal in any context.

The non-use of grammar is an adaptation to indicate a different "tone" of communication. As an example, it can be used to indicate sarcasm.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#43
The best form of communication is ultimately based on the amount of shared context (Eg: acronyms), so it’s silly to create rules per the communication medium — slack, email, HN comments, etc. Even within a medium, a slack DM to a friend has very different shared context from a message to a company-wide channel. Being mindful of that, and communicating respectfully, regardless of the actual medium, is likely to be far more useful. Nothing special about Slack.

For me, respectful written communication also includes proper punctuation & capitalization — since it makes reading easier.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#44

I feel like people complaining about this didn't grow up in the IRC/IM era. It probably depends on your corp's culture as well, but for us, Slack is a very informal communcation mechanism. If you need to write something formal, you use an email. Slack is equivalent to shouting out to the room (as if you were there in person).

> I feel like people complaining about this didn't grow up in the IRC/IM era.

At one time most written language didn't put spaces between words (some still do), and many languages don't write vowels. That's not a good reason for doing the same in your informal English Slack messages.

You can write an informal message and still use punctuation.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#45
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, but not sure why now that you mention it. I'm a stickler for grammar, oxford commas and all, but in messaging, periods feel...rude at times. I can't explain why, perhaps it is the 'conclusion in thought' aspect.

It really feels abrupt, to be honest. Mostly because most chat messages are single sentences. So I guess that people leave them out when they aren't part of a full paragraph of text.

Many times I've started writing something I intend to be a single sentence so I'll be lax about capitalization. Then I realize a second sentence is warranted so I go back to fix things and carry on. IM really is an odd medium.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#46
I don't think this is good generalized advice.

* Posting in a highly-visible channel where most/if not all people will lack context. Treat it like an email and make sure it's punctually and grammatically correct. * Posting in a team channel where the attitude is casual. Pump those messages out pretty much like you're talking them.

Re: A case for using punctuation in Slack

#49
post #37

There is a cargo-cult tech management trend where people use low-effort, sloppy messages and even rudeness as a status signal. I get that the simplest things are the important ones, and wall of text details are usually prevarication, but Slack isn't Tinder. Like project managers think they're channelling Bezos with "?" messages. I can see how some people interpret "stupid" as "powerful," when that's their experience…

One can use properly-punctuated and thoughtful but terse messages to communicate with both clarity and importance. With care, short messages can be very effective.

Agree. And I think “with care” is the important piece here. Using a simple Bezos like “?” is the opposite of that.
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