On Wednesday, Slack rolled out its new Connect DM feature. The idea was that any paid subscriber could connect with someone outside of their direct network via a customizable direct message. However, within hours, key parts of the feature had to be rolled back amidst concerns about harassment, Bloomberg News reported.
Slack Explains Connect DMs About-Turn
The problem was that users could send abusive messages via the invite tool. Furthermore, such invites could never be blocked as they are sent from a generic Slack address. Consequently, the custom invite option has been disabled. Explaining the about-turn, Jonathan Prince, Vice President of Communications and Policy at Slack, commented:
We are taking immediate steps to prevent this kind of abuse, beginning with the removal today of the ability to customize a message when a user invites someone to Slack Connect DMs. We made a mistake in this initial roll-out that is inconsistent with our goals for the product and the typical experience of Slack Connect usage.