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Huh? Have you not used the search feature in Slack or Discord? Whether it's a forum or a chat, the data structure is largely the same, especially with Slack/Di

Huh? Have you not used the search feature in Slack or Discord? Whether it's a forum or a chat, the data structure is largely the same, especially with Slack/Discord as they have threads.

fasterik 3y ago
It's a bit disingenuous to pretend like they're the same thing. Explicit design for threaded discussion encourages a different style of communication than design primarily intended for real-time chat. Even if the information exists somewhere in Discord/Slack, it's often harder to find, harder to link to, provides less context, requires login and access to a specific community, isn't indexed by search engines, etc.
wwweston 3y ago
I have. Sometimes it does its job. The problem with their search is that it’s only their search — no other engine can index it. And then the medium tends to make discussion a ripple in a pond rather than a running discussion.
n8cpdx 3y ago
I’ve never succeeded with slack chat. Basically I just have to remember when a conversation happened and go to that time and scroll until I see it. Even if I remember most of the words of a message I’m searching for. Outlook is the reigning champion of terrible search, but don’t Slack is the runner up.
Turing_Machine 3y ago
> Have you not used the search feature in Slack or Discord? I have. Discord, in particular, has the worst search function I've ever seen in my life, or close to it.
xp84 3y ago
Come on. Discord or slack is like a forum where you have every post ever made on a topic in a single thread, 92,000 pages long. Sure, you can use search, but the nature of chat means that once you find one message (say, where a question was asked) you have to then skim through other discussions also going on at the time — often many of them — wondering if anyone answered the question, or if the discussion might continue after each interruption. It’s okay for some applications I guess, but it’s the worst replacement for a forum, wiki, or knowledge base I’ve ever seen.
Forgeties79 3y ago
My understanding is that when people are talking about search, they are talking about outside of the community/client itself. I can search Reddit with Google. I can’t search Slack with google. So if you are using it as a repository for information or troubleshooting or what have you, it is completely worthless outside of its use for the people in the actual community/on that client, e.g. slack/discord. Whereas a thread on Reddit, HN, etc. that addresses some issue I am having is discoverable to everybody. Let me put it to you another way: how many tech problems have you solved by searching Google and finding a Reddit thread, and how many times have you solved one by finding something on a Slack or Discord server you weren’t already a part of?

Huh? Have you not used the search feature in Slack or Discord? Whether it's a forum or a chat, the data structure is largely the same, especially with Slack/Discord as they have threads.

fasterik 3y ago

It's a bit disingenuous to pretend like they're the same thing. Explicit design for threaded discussion encourages a different style of communication than design primarily intended for real-time chat. Even if the information exists somewhere in Discord/Slack, it's often harder to find, harder to link to, provides less context, requires login and access to a specific community, isn't indexed by search engines, etc.

wwweston 3y ago

I have. Sometimes it does its job. The problem with their search is that it’s only their search — no other engine can index it. And then the medium tends to make discussion a ripple in a pond rather than a running discussion.

n8cpdx 3y ago

I’ve never succeeded with slack chat. Basically I just have to remember when a conversation happened and go to that time and scroll until I see it. Even if I remember most of the words of a message I’m searching for. Outlook is the reigning champion of terrible search, but don’t Slack is the runner up.

Turing_Machine 3y ago

> Have you not used the search feature in Slack or Discord? I have. Discord, in particular, has the worst search function I've ever seen in my life, or close to it.

xp84 3y ago

Come on. Discord or slack is like a forum where you have every post ever made on a topic in a single thread, 92,000 pages long. Sure, you can use search, but the nature of chat means that once you find one message (say, where a question was asked) you have to then skim through other discussions also going on at the time — often many of them — wondering if anyone answered the question, or if the discussion might continue after each interruption. It’s okay for some applications I guess, but it’s the worst replacement for a forum, wiki, or knowledge base I’ve ever seen.

Forgeties79 3y ago

My understanding is that when people are talking about search, they are talking about outside of the community/client itself. I can search Reddit with Google. I can’t search Slack with google. So if you are using it as a repository for information or troubleshooting or what have you, it is completely worthless outside of its use for the people in the actual community/on that client, e.g. slack/discord. Whereas a thread on Reddit, HN, etc. that addresses some issue I am having is discoverable to everybody. Let me put it to you another way: how many tech problems have you solved by searching Google and finding a Reddit thread, and how many times have you solved one by finding something on a Slack or Discord server you weren’t already a part of?