Thread by @anildash

I had forgotten I said this, but it’s true (even though I love Slack!) — there are lots of organizations where any technology that allows people to freely communicate without being controlled is seen as a threat by execs. Slack has a radical architecture. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

I saw this when I used to help make content management systems. The number one feature businesses asked for, by far, was tools that gave them controls to keep their workers from being able to freely publish things.

Tech platforms always have a partiality; the grain of the wood goes a certain way. Tools that actually empower people & change culture scare the hell out of organizations that want authoritarian control.

Part of why Slack is the only large enterprise platform that people have positive feelings about is because it allows, by default, some degree of humanity and subversion. It’s gotten away with it by being charming and seemingly unserious. Non-threatening!

Requisite disclaimers: all business communications tools are also corporate surveillance tools; less fettered communication can also empower bad actors who are harder to rein in; cultural change enabled by tech can often exacerbate marginalization; chatters like chat.