Bxdty

Ever since I started using group chat rooms like gitter.im and slack, I started to feel like I am interrupting an conversation.

Slack is used in the company I work for, which means it is considered as a domain where we must behave professional. Gitter.im is mostly used by open source software projects where strangers work together with their heartfelt commitment, as well as with an excellent degree of professinal attitude.

This means we can consider this online chat rooms as 'office spaces' where we must have a professional's manners.

To elaborate my question: There is always a topic being discussed in these chat rooms. Sometimes it goes by hours where nobody actually writes anything and when read the last messages, it seems to be that the last topic is solved. Yet sometimes it is quite visible that there is an ongoing conversation, say, with a response rate of 20 mins per post.

When I have a something on my mind, unrelated to what is being dicussed, yet still in the domain of relevance of the chat room, should I simply put out? Or shall wait until I observe that the parties conclude their conversation.

Or maybe I should be quick and short on my question and be patient until somebody pick it up and we start conversing. Or perhaps since people can tag their name with an @ symbol to be able to notify each other directly, I should not worry about that all and simply post whatever I need?

(A bit Slack centric. I've never used gitter.im)

Am I interrupting a conversation in chat rooms like gitter.im or slack?

Generally, you aren't unless:

• You hijack a thread and start talking about something very different. Slack supports threads so you can group messages together better.


• You're messaging 1 person or limited set of people and the rest of the channel isn't affected by the topic or isn't the point of the channel. You'd be better off just messaging those people instead of messaging the whole channel.

I find the broader Slack channel is useful for announcements, figuring out who to talk to more 1-on-1 or discussing about topics that affects the majority of the channel.

When I have a something on my mind, unrelated to what is being dicussed, yet still in the domain of relevance of the chat room, should I simply put out? Or shall wait until I observe that the parties conclude their conversation

This actually boils down to how your company handles Slack... in other words, and to be completely sure how to behave, ask your manager about the proper use of Slack in your company.

Still, if you have a channel about a topic, then any comment regarding that topic is in place. If you have a question or follow-up regarding a specific comment on a channel, the standard is to mention (@) such person and ask.

Now if you want to talk to a single or a few persons, consider writing directly to them instead. This will reduce noise on channels. In this case remember that a phone call is most of the times more efficient than waiting for a 20min delay response ;)