I've been involved in old-school online community building and recently have been a member of a couple Slack communities.
I can honestly say that Slack isn't a great platform for community building. (I'm not talking about internal work comms, here.) One group I was in had a lot of potential, but it fizzled out within a few months. Another one is somewhat helpful, but only when you can build your own subgroup to converse with regularly. This does make it difficult to bring in new people since they don't have past posts to look over (unless they pay monthly to Slack).
Since Gen Y and Gen Z prefer async communication, having no clear organization and repository for conversations – channels and chat history are poor substitutions – it often comes off as disjointed, people taper off and you feel like you're speaking into the void.
It takes work to do it right for private communities, and if you have dedicated people (your core circle) that are on the same page about being helpful and responding, you'll do better than trying to wedge Slack into something it doesn't do well.
If you want to build a helpful, dedicated community, look to the tried and true forum platforms. I've experienced more helpful and supportive communities in those settings.
With the recent political shift, Anthropic should consider pivoting to more of a fear-mongering prediction service.
I noticed two people walking down our sidewalk the other morning. Two girls and one had a very thick, highly wrapped towel on her head. I was impressed she managed to keep it upright walking down the block.
We've reached a point in society where it's completely unacceptable to change your mind.
Seems to be proportional to how unnatural the hair color is.
Eric retweeted
Don't hand over your mind and nerves to the political stress merchants. Nothing would delight them more. They know exactly what to do with basket cases -- empty them completely -- so please make sure not to be one.
Eric retweeted
Considering Texas voters seem to want to turn that state into California, I’ll tell you that you’re going to need a lot more money. No income tax and moderate sales tax? You’ll never have the cash for aimless programs like we have in CA. I expect the first thing these new TX politicians will do is jack up every tax they can manipulate. Sales tax and property tax will get higher instantly, and expect some crazy gas tax, too. They’ll say it’s for “the roads and the schools.” That’s how you know it’s earmarked to steal.
(Chart below does not show that LA sales tax is 11.4%. Also, gas tax + sales tax per gallon often makes our gas prices close to double the national average.)
That's rare compared to how my dad cooked them. Made me sit on the back porch until I was finished chewing and swallowed the bite.
Apple set to release a touch screen Macbook just so screen-touchers feel better about their fingerprint-covered screen.
There's nothing like the sound and look of pop-up headlights. All other headlights are boring.
Get hands-on with a relic
This 1983 Toyota Celica Supra is a P-Type example that was purchased new by the current owner and shows 81k miles following registration history in California and Arizona. Powered by a 2.8-liter inline-six paired with a five-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential, it is finished in Terra Cotta over Terra Cotta cloth upholstery. It rolled onto BaT in August 2025.
Just another reminder
xitter.gq/ericcarroll/status/206…
Grok bots are interesting and kind of fun. So far, I have Cecil, Scout, Designer Dan, Markety Mark, and Stats Domino. Been helpful for doubling down on an unexpected and fun shift in my work (here's hoping it works, though).
An interesting side-effect and you have to be careful with this about any AI, is how it can lessen any isolation you might be in or dealing with. Use it to keep up your people skills, but don't become co-dependent on it. It's good practice if you are aware of it.
