Lars Marowsky-Brée 😷Slack is such an awesome tool it doesn't need the ability to report users or conversations, this is fine
And fits with its intentional inability to block users
Great messenger platform, more communities should use it
Andreas Scherbaum@larsmb Imho Slack is for companies (and you need an invite from the company), your reporting process is supposed to be HR.
That it is used outside of that use case to... unfortunate.
@ascherbaum Even then, not building that into the platform, or assuming that people in multi-thousand people companies need no filtering or moderation for their own communication (short of escalation to HR and the management chain) is highly toxic and fucked up.
I would bet a tenner per adjective that this policy is driven by cishet white men.
@larsmb I mean, the equivalent would be a restraining order in real life: "don't come close to me, or ever talk to me". Imagine a "remote first" company and people can't work on an incident because they ignore each other.
The problem I see is that Slack is used outside of companies.
@ascherbaum All company slacks also have a social component or even just optional groups.
Muting someone there is not a restraining order equivalent. It's a "I really don't need to know what the Musketeer and fundamentalist person thinks about us queers".
Just like I'd avoid them (or they me) at an inperson function.
Of course that's different when they actually are assigned to a task.
Slack has less influence over social interactions than real life.
And yes, that's highly toxic in my book.
Muting someone there is not a restraining order equivalent. It's a "I really don't need to know what the Musketeer and fundamentalist person thinks about us queers".
Just like I'd avoid them (or they me) at an inperson function.
Of course that's different when they actually are assigned to a task.
Slack has less influence over social interactions than real life.
And yes, that's highly toxic in my book.
@ascherbaum you're making all the arguments Slack does with zero empathy for the people affected, if I may point that out.
I don't *want* to escalate everything to HR. That's a massive hammer, and it's not even always about illegal things or even aspects that violate company policy.
It's about recognizing individuals rather than treating them as corporate drones.
I don't *want* to escalate everything to HR. That's a massive hammer, and it's not even always about illegal things or even aspects that violate company policy.
It's about recognizing individuals rather than treating them as corporate drones.
@ascherbaum Not to put too fine a point to it, your header photo here is of a country I couldn't enter for fear of my life, and they've actually tried making even entering illegal.
Maybe our two perspectives aren't interchangeable?
Maybe our two perspectives aren't interchangeable?
@larsmb I like the picture because of the memories - good ones and bad ones, but entirely of my own making. I also understand that many other people can't go there. But I don't see how the Slack discussion is related to that.
@ascherbaum Yes, I can see that. Let's leave it at that 🙂
@larsmb When we meet the next time I offer to tell you the story. But that's not something I want to write in public.
@larsmb The way I see it is that if you mute someone, how do you even know that there is an issue where you have to work together? Or if you don't want to know that, how is that then not an issue for HR?
I can ignore people in my private life, I don't see how that is working in a work life. That's why I am saying that Slack is not suited for any private communication.