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Comment by lrvick | Hacker News Reader

I for one prefer stream of consciousness in chat.

That is the point of chat.

If I want structured longform discourse I use mailing lists.

Conversations are fine as long as messages contain complete thoughts that merit a response. Saying hey in one message, then typing and then sending the message does no one any good, all it does is interrupt the receiver and force a context switch before you can run any instructions/respond.

I remember on ICQ I used to like to use the mode where you saw each character your partner typed. Google Wave was satisfying in that way too.

Some data modes on ham radio work like this. You can even see them fix typos over the air.

Lots of fun.

I have no ideas how many times I'd have been fired if Slack did this. Let's just say my first pass on a message in the heat of the moment can sometimes be less than professional.

When talking in person over some beers that is exactly what you get.

I talk to people in chat like I would IRL.

Personally I only like working with people that don't feel they need a filter. I sure don't have one.

I find it is easier to trust people that say what they think and feel as they think and feel it.

If you think "this code is an insecure joke and I keep trying to convince myself why we should not scrap it all and start over", then say it.

I said that to a CEO once and he admitted he wrote most of that code, thanked me for my candor, and agreed it should be rewritten given how important it had become.

Live typing would really trip me up. I'd probably wind up drafting my messages in a text editor and pasting them in.

https://nohello.net/

If I have to read it, I’d rather you take your time thinking about what you are writing. For voice or video, stream of consciousness works well.

And if I am waiting for a reply, I would rather you spit out what you're saying rather than waste my time waiting for you to say it prettier.

No communication heuristic will be perfect.

There's a balance. Like the example the OP gave is abysmal. I do not want that. Have one or two actual sentences and send it, if we're in an actual live conversation. If you can't type that fast enough, take a typing course.

If we're not actively talking, write the whole damn paragraph before you send it! One thing I really dislike is:

    > Hey, how's going?

... some time later ...

    > Can I ask you a question on $TOPIC?

...

Will not get an answer from me. Well maybe once, if we've never talked before and that will be along the lines of "just go ahead and ask, don't bother with the chit chat". Most people 'get' this nowadays but there are some hold-outs. I suppose the hold-outs might be more numerous in non-tech companies or in the non-tech departments of those companies.

You're not alone with this specific gripe. Some of my colleagues include sites similar to https://nohello.net in their staff directory page.

I tend to find the best response to any chat message that boils down to "Hey, can I ask you a question?" is "You just did."

The worst is when I ignore their preamble, waiting on the question and the other person turns around and shoots an email to my manager, cc'ing me and saying 'so and so was away, do you know who I might ask about x?'. Like, no, I was just waiting for you to get to the point!

> if I am waiting

Just don't. It's still asynchronous.

So much this. I would rather people spit it out than agonize word smithing with me.

I don't know why people treat text as different from speaking.

I read much faster than most people can speak though so I consider stream of consciousness in text as way less demanding than doing it in a meeting.

Man, I'm the complete opposite. It's pretty much instantaneous for me to read (or not really read) a few words on a screen, but if you're droning on in the video chat or on the phone, god help us.

I wonder if the OP is referring to channels versus DMs? Also this is maybe a huge culture thing at least regarding "inherited channel etiquette"

In a DM I am _for sure_ stream of consciousness

edit: also in a #red channel

I am the same in channels or DMs, with the only exception being alert channels that need to be on topic and low noise.

I think one should make a distinction between chat in public channels and direct messages; with the latter, you're causing the other party a notification and drawing the attention, with the former, the reader can engage with it at their own leisure.

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