Users asked, Slack obliged. The fast-growing corporate collaboration service is rolling out a much-requested feature that lets teams react to messages using emoji. Just like most other social networks.
That’s right. Soon, Slack’s approximately 1.1 million users will be able to “favorite” or “like” comments. Vote for a specific idea in a brainstorming thread. Respond to a meeting request. Make a new person feel welcome. Report back on task progress. Or just express their random opinion using more than 300 images, rather than words.
The company explains:
“We already had the ability to star messages (which is useful for creating personal reminders and quick to-do lists, but isn’t visible or intended for communal use). But we knew that if people wanted something for showing appreciation that everyone else could see, we really needed something else.”
The motive: cut back on lengthy, confusing message threads. That’s why organizations like Intuit, eBay and Salesforce decided to use the service in the first place—as a form of salvation from email.
Slack’s rapid growth has earned it more than $340 million in funding, plenty of takeover offers, and a valuation last estimated around $2.8 billion.
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