5 ms·

Similar thing with comments whenever a Slack related article ends up on HN. "I don't understand how a shitty IRC clone is worth billions of dollars!" or "Why wo

Similar thing with comments whenever a Slack related article ends up on HN. "I don't understand how a shitty IRC clone is worth billions of dollars!" or "Why would anyone use Slack when Matrix is free!" I often wonder if these folks haven't even bothered to actually use the software and realize how much more it does beyond sending messages back and forth and/or how much detail and thought goes into making it usable for the masses, not just software engineers.

burnished 5y ago
I think competency in the domain reduces friction, and without reflection folks generally don't seem to realize that their experiences are usually specialized. So yeah, I think it's a combo of not trying the new thing (because they already have a comfy work flow) and not honestly assessing how the knowledge they take for granted changes their experience. Not that it's that easy of course.
criddell 5y ago
> these folks haven't even bothered to actually use the software and realize how much more it does beyond sending messages back and forth Are you saying that sending messages back and forth involves a lot more complexity that you don't see or that Slack does a lot more than just messages?
- tshaddox 5y ago
  That's kinda a "gotcha" question, because it's not clear what your definitions are. For example, is authentication (single sign-on, etc.) part of what you describe as "sending messages back and forth"? Are files, screen sharing, video calls, etc. still "just messages"?
  - criddell 5y ago
    I didn't intend it to be a gotcha question. > Are files, screen sharing, video calls, etc. still "just messages"? I wouldn't think any of those as messages that a basic message-only client would have. I guess that's the distinction I was after - was the person I replied to talking about all the complexity of a basic message-only client, or were they talking about the complexity of all the stuff beyond that.
    - jacobr1 5y ago
      I suspect most people in the "Slack is a just a pretty IRC," are discounting the non-text-messaging features. Beyond both the items already mentioned and the ease of adoption, the major benefit to slack is the integration ecosystem. SlackOps is a really big thing. Making slack the glue across variety of operational systems to coordinate the activity of a team and allowing that team to communicate about it, provides a ton of value. And importantly, allowing this to happen organically with non-IT staff creating their own workflows (in the way that people invent alls sorts of min-apps in spreadsheets) is pretty powerful.
      - criddell 5y ago
        We never used it for anything except messages. Now we're on Teams. I'd be curious how many users were like us - messages only?
nottorp 5y ago
It's not a shitty irc clone, it has a lot of useful features (and some not so useful, looking at you threads). Now the client on the other hand...
- thehappypm 5y ago
  You don't like threads? I find them useful at times, that's part of what I like about Slack, it has enough potential for customization that you can bend it to your culture. For example, you can use bots that suit your workflows, use threads or not use them, use emoji reactions or not use them, use private threads or small channels, or always large channels..
  - nottorp 5y ago
    > You don't like threads? I would love them if it was actually noticeable when someone else creates a thread to which i'm supposed to contribute...
    - thehappypm 5y ago
      At my workplace, we tag people.
      - nottorp 5y ago
        So no voluntary contributions from people you didn't ask ;)
        thehappypm 5y ago
        Not exactly I mean people still see the thread root, just like if you didn’t use a thread it would see the message, So if the thread is interesting you look at it
        nottorp 5y ago
        I never see those. They get lost in the main channel noise. They should get pinned somewhere obvious to not get lost with the main chat scrolling.

burnished 5y ago

I think competency in the domain reduces friction, and without reflection folks generally don't seem to realize that their experiences are usually specialized. So yeah, I think it's a combo of not trying the new thing (because they already have a comfy work flow) and not honestly assessing how the knowledge they take for granted changes their experience. Not that it's that easy of course.

criddell 5y ago

> these folks haven't even bothered to actually use the software and realize how much more it does beyond sending messages back and forth Are you saying that sending messages back and forth involves a lot more complexity that you don't see or that Slack does a lot more than just messages?

tshaddox 5y ago
That's kinda a "gotcha" question, because it's not clear what your definitions are. For example, is authentication (single sign-on, etc.) part of what you describe as "sending messages back and forth"? Are files, screen sharing, video calls, etc. still "just messages"?
- criddell 5y ago
  I didn't intend it to be a gotcha question. > Are files, screen sharing, video calls, etc. still "just messages"? I wouldn't think any of those as messages that a basic message-only client would have. I guess that's the distinction I was after - was the person I replied to talking about all the complexity of a basic message-only client, or were they talking about the complexity of all the stuff beyond that.
  - jacobr1 5y ago
    I suspect most people in the "Slack is a just a pretty IRC," are discounting the non-text-messaging features. Beyond both the items already mentioned and the ease of adoption, the major benefit to slack is the integration ecosystem. SlackOps is a really big thing. Making slack the glue across variety of operational systems to coordinate the activity of a team and allowing that team to communicate about it, provides a ton of value. And importantly, allowing this to happen organically with non-IT staff creating their own workflows (in the way that people invent alls sorts of min-apps in spreadsheets) is pretty powerful.
    - criddell 5y ago
      We never used it for anything except messages. Now we're on Teams. I'd be curious how many users were like us - messages only?

nottorp 5y ago

It's not a shitty irc clone, it has a lot of useful features (and some not so useful, looking at you threads). Now the client on the other hand...

thehappypm 5y ago
You don't like threads? I find them useful at times, that's part of what I like about Slack, it has enough potential for customization that you can bend it to your culture. For example, you can use bots that suit your workflows, use threads or not use them, use emoji reactions or not use them, use private threads or small channels, or always large channels..
- nottorp 5y ago
  > You don't like threads? I would love them if it was actually noticeable when someone else creates a thread to which i'm supposed to contribute...
  - thehappypm 5y ago
    At my workplace, we tag people.
    - nottorp 5y ago
      So no voluntary contributions from people you didn't ask ;)
      - thehappypm 5y ago
        Not exactly I mean people still see the thread root, just like if you didn’t use a thread it would see the message, So if the thread is interesting you look at it
        nottorp 5y ago
        I never see those. They get lost in the main channel noise. They should get pinned somewhere obvious to not get lost with the main chat scrolling.