Panic and Humor Ensues as Group Chat Giant Slack Goes Down

Slack, the leading work and study chat program went down globally earlier today. If you work in the media, for a tech company, a website, or any collaborative effort where you and a group need to combine skills and ideas online; you've probably used Slack, one of the most dominant global group chat messaging applications and pieces of software.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If you&#39;re having issues connecting to Slack: we&#39;re working on getting things back to normal with top priority. Thanks kindly for your patience. 🙏</p>&mdash; Slack (@SlackHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/SlackHQ/status/950812653496053760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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This afternoon it seems that Slack encountered some issues where many users received a server error, and were unable to connect, according to Slack’s official Twitter account.

Slack also has a<a href="https://status.slack.com"> “Slack Status Site” </a>now, which will keep users updated on what's occurring in real time; a huge plus for those concerned when it seems as if it's down.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We&#39;re sharing details and updates at <a href="https://t.co/WqzwGMsZaj">https://t.co/WqzwGMsZaj</a>. Thank you for being patient as we worked to get that page stable. And sorry for the delay. We&#39;ll come back to you once we have more news.</p>&mdash; Slack (@SlackHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/SlackHQ/status/950821095807971328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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As businesses and workspaces for Universities and Campuses across America and the world were in panic-mode; Slack continued to update the base on the issues at hand.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s looking like everything is back to normal for all customers. Our sincere apologies for the disruption to your day. You were all so patient as we worked to get this fixed — thanks, everyone.</p>&mdash; Slack (@SlackHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/SlackHQ/status/950830132633124864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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It appears after a few hours of downtime though, Slack was able to get things restarted for most of their users; which was a sigh of relief.

Slack has around <b>six million daily users</b>, which shows their absolute dominance in the market for business and school communications.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Slack is down.<br><br>All at once, millions of Giphy reactions are lost in the ether.</p>&mdash; I Am Devloper (@iamdevloper) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamdevloper/status/950816561262022656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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April Underwood, Slack’s Vice President of Products, said that Slack only continues to grow too.

“It just makes sense for all the work that people do between organizations,” says Underwood, who adds that the shared work spaces may also mean a boon for productivity apps listed in Slack’s app store. “All of the other entities with which a modern company works, we want to bring the power of Slack to all of that work.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Slack is down; newsrooms remember they can actually talk to one another.</p>&mdash; Josh Sternberg (@joshsternberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/joshsternberg/status/950808598568779776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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So when it goes down, it's something of a catastrophe for its users; even though Slack is very fast at coming back live again.

Throughout my career, I've used Slack’s application for both work, and school; where users can communicate via a <i>”Team”</i> in order to message one another and share files of every type instantly to accomplish goals with both quickness and ease; where it's rather vital to many businesses to thrive with having such a capability.

Regardless of your intended use for Slack, many types of companies are absolutely reliant upon the software and application in order to do business, and when it goes down as it did earlier; it causes massive, widespread panic across the world.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On it. So sorry, we&#39;ll do better next time.</p>&mdash; Slack (@SlackHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/SlackHQ/status/950813529908662273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Slack does have a friendly sense of humor though; whoever updates their Twitter account does at least, and they're brilliant.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Keep up the good work over there. 😘</p>&mdash; Slack (@SlackHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/SlackHQ/status/950828691273256960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The capabilities of Slack are brilliant and haven't been matched successfully by any competitor; where you can have a team that has users in the United States, some in China, some in Australia, some in Germany, and even some in Russia; all working together as if they're in the same room, without being physically present side-by-side.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Don&#39;t worry. You are not fired. It is just Slack is down <a href="https://t.co/xz26FqB4C4">pic.twitter.com/xz26FqB4C4</a></p>&mdash; Marcelo (@iplaywithjava) <a href="https://twitter.com/iplaywithjava/status/950809041441259520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Anytime Slack goes down, many of those companies are at a loss of ideas for what to do next; Since it's crucial to the operational strength of your business.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Whether using <a href="https://twitter.com/SlackHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SlackHQ</a> for Work or Memetics, when Slack went down, I was able to get in touch w/ my inner self as I learned meditation techniques, taught myself 32 languages, &amp; went bird watching as I took a jog.<br>Now that it&#39;s back up I have to work at <a href="https://t.co/8ZP8wEvMk9">https://t.co/8ZP8wEvMk9</a><br>😂 <a href="https://t.co/U4TOIqaDPs">pic.twitter.com/U4TOIqaDPs</a></p>&mdash; 🔴Red Pill 🚨 (@IWillRedPillYou) <a href="https://twitter.com/IWillRedPillYou/status/950852739944386560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Here at The Goldwater, Slack is how our writers, editors, managers, and entire crew communicate. Not to give away too much about our business operations, but we collaborate using the application and software, as many other websites do; to quickly share ideas and breaking news amongst ourselves for our writers to then be able to bring our readers the fresh and leading stories across this beautiful earth.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/SlackHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SlackHQ</a> doesn&#39;t want us working too hard, they genuinely care 😀</p>&mdash; Arthur Grant (@crkbackt) <a href="https://twitter.com/crkbackt/status/950854753554259968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Seriously though, for myself and many of our staff at The Goldwater Slack is crucial. Myself, being a student and a writer; mobile is key to my writing capabilities, and Slack allows me to use their mobile application to communicate with my supervisor, editors, and the crew; for both serious work-related writing at TheGoldwater.com and also of course just some fun random memetics and chatting between us.

Or arguing, of course, everyone who uses Slack for business or school knows that butting heads are just part of the process, haha. Twitter took to having fun discussing it too.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">slack is down so all US media production is hereby on hold</p>&mdash; David Mack (@davidmackau) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/950809599464046594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Today though Slack once again (it's a rare occurrence, but it does happen) crashed internationally. Panic began to spread amongst the user base and the companies reliant upon Slack’s uptime.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Since Slack has been down I&#39;ve learned a new language, folded 1,000 origami cranes, baked three souffles, reconciled with my ex, trimmed my split-ends, devised a personal budget, meditated, and come to peace with my own mortality.</p>&mdash; Madeleine Aggeler 💅 (@mmaggeler) <a href="https://twitter.com/mmaggeler/status/950811222131335169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Users took to Twitter to express their absolute freak-out after Slack went down, with others placing a little bit of humor into the idea, suggesting that with Slack’s workspace down, <i>you might actually get some work done</i>.

For others though, when Slack goes down it's an excuse to rush to Twitter; which also became a joke in and of itself.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Twitter on a normal day Vs. Twitter when Slack is down: <a href="https://t.co/le66inTKuu">pic.twitter.com/le66inTKuu</a></p>&mdash; hate team10? follow me (@hamiidilo) <a href="https://twitter.com/hamiidilo/status/950814827731144705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The company is proud that it’s passed six million daily active users, and nine million weekly users, with a whopping 55% of them outside of the United States.

Slack also has more than 50,000 teams paying for its service, which accounts for two million paid users, including 43% of the largest 100 companies in the nation by revenue, with those users spending more than two hours per day actively working in Slack and more than 10 hours with Slack open, according to<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2017/09/12/slack-passes-6-million-daily-users-and-opens-up-channels-to-multi-company-use/#7d906c67fdb2"> Forbes</a>.

The company has now also confirmed that it passed an annual recurring revenue rate of $200 million (WOW!) early on in 2017, growing at more than 100%.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">*clicks reply all*<br>IT SAYS THERE IS TROUBLE WITH MY WINSOCK CONNECTION. SHOULD I INSTALL THE DLL?<br>*send*</p>&mdash; Aaron Patterson (@tenderlove) <a href="https://twitter.com/tenderlove/status/950811446878732288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Slack was reported by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-26/slack-is-raising-250-million-from-softbank-others"> Bloomberg </a>to be valued at $5 billion in a then-active $250 million funding round in July.

The company will continue to grow, and of course with that will be errors and occasional downtime.

That's a rare occurrence, and as I said Slack is back up for most; proving that the company has a strong team behind it working around the clock to fix any problems.

Go Slack, go!

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