Slack has become a large way companies interact internally. It’s a quick and easy avenue to confirm or even set up meetings, exchange information, and connect with folks across time and distance. There are endless ways why Slack is vital to organization and a total stress reliever. Being able to chat with a friend in another office or someone right next to you without picking up a phone and literally expressing yourself through gifs or emojis is sometimes tantamount to an after-work rage sesh. It’s great. However, I’ve been noticing there are some things about how emojis are used in a group chat setting that have come to make me… pause. So without any prompting whatsoever, I’m going to break-down what I think are important pieces of etiquette to be mindful of when you are apart of that large Slack channel with different types of people or direct messaging your homies.

1. Using emojis that aren’t your skin tone
   Plain and simple. DON’T DO IT. It’s incredibly awkward and makes the person who’s skin tone your referencing very uncomfortable. Though you may feel like a black woman on the inside, you’re not on the outside, so it feels like some sort of mini-appropriation happening even if you don’t mean it to be as such.

2. Telling people to react with a thumbs-up or some other color-specific hand emoji
   Be mindful of the people who are reacting. Maybe they don’t have the same complexion. Using a neutral emoji is much safer, like a check-mark or some random shape. There are SO MANY emojis out there that don’t dredge up race complexities. How about you stick with those to get a headcount for who wants pizza, Anne?! Whew, got a little carried away…

3. Threads
   Always and forever use threads when you’re replying to someone. It just makes the entire channel look cleaner, and it allows other people to chime in on the same topic without interruption.

4. General shit talking
   Whew. I dunno. Be careful with how you speak even in your direct messages because remember, it’s not iMessage, every f-bomb you drop about Chad the supervisor can be seen by your company if they feel like pulling receipts. I tend to always think about Slack as if someone can always view my history and see what I’m saying. Most times, I’m pretty cordial and don’t give away too many harrowing details about my true feelings, but not everyone is so discerning. People literally get fired over dumb stuff like that, so uh, be careful cuz big bro is watching.

5. Gifs (pronounced with a hard "g“ cuz I’m not a fascist)
   These can really get awkward in a group setting, so stick to regular-degular ones that aren’t pulled from that trendy video where that girl/guy is now being questioned on their racism.

Okay, that’s my spiel. I know it’s so dumb, but it’s been on my mind for a while, so I figure I should get it out before these thoughts eat me alive.

Happy Black History Month!

This is my favorite thing on the internet today.