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Comment by proc0 | Hacker News Reader

If etiquette is needed for an app then that's the wrong tool or the tool is that bad. In this case I think it's the wrong tool. If people are that concerned about the visual noise in slack, maybe use something else that is more limited. If emojis are there, that implies they can be used. If there is abuse the option is either to remove them or add an additional feature that tries to solve the problem.

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This! Slack was supposed to be better than email. Now it's clear it's just another annoying tool whose purpose is to be nagged by colleagues too lazy or busy to put together their thoughts on a nicely written email.

> If etiquette is needed for an app then that's the wrong tool or the tool is that bad.

Strong disagree. Every form of communication requires some etiquette. Email has etiquette, too. So do newsgroups, forums, blog comments, telephone conversations, face to face conversations, etc.

Any tool sufficient powerful to be used can also be misused. All tools need etiquette/agreed norms and conventions.

I disagree. If there's anything you can count on is the end user abusing and taking your features to their limit. Using games as an example, you can't release game and then publish guidelines on how players should not cheat. If your game allows players to cheat easily, they simply will, so it just follows that it's on the developer to release something that will be used appropriately (my point is there is no other way, if you think you can educate the masses, good luck).

So if someone is chewing loudly unmuted on Google Hangouts, it's not bad etiquitte, it's that the tool is bad?

Most group audio clients allow you to mute individual users to solve this exact problem. A group audio client that doesn't let you mute individual users is therefore inherently bad relative to other competitors in the space.

I would consider that social etiquette though.

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