Famous communication platform Slack, intended for companies, is slowly but surely becoming a genuine social network. It is now possible for any registered user to contact other members by private message, including those outside their company.

But the new function quickly turned into a disaster as Slack withdrew it for fear of the development of a cyber-harassment phenomenon.

Already a work essential even before the pandemic broke out, Slack is even more so now that remote working has become the new norm for many. This collaborative application allows users to stay in touch with all the employees of your company.

It can be used as an instant messenger (in pairs or groups) as well as a document-sharing tool. Slack is also compatible with many other applications (Google Calendar, Zoom, etc) which, once integrated, make it a comprehensive work platform.

This week, Slack made headlines with the launch of a new feature, called “Slack Connect DM”, allowing a user to send a private message to any other person registered on the platform, including those who are not part of his own daily work circle. The idea is to be able to send an invitation via Slack (which will arrive in the form of an e-mail to the recipient) that can be accompanied by a message.

In theory, this type of service could even replace traditional professional emails since exchanges (of messages and documents) between members of different companies can be done directly from Slack. This kind of initiative shows that Slack wants to become much more than a simple collaborative workspace and would bring it closer to LinkedIn as a professional network, but also to WhatsApp as a simplified communication tool.

What shocked many was that any user could contact any other user, without any prior authorisation, with the risk of harassment looming. Finding itself under pressure, Slack backed down and temporarily removed this new feature. No doubt that Slack will head back to the drawing board and propose an “improved” version of Connect DM.

 - AFP Relaxnews