[t-writescode]

I strongly recommend ‘random’ rooms in your shared chat messenger, or a way to make random rooms in whatever communication infrastructure you have. They’re vital for maintaining social interactions

[Balgair]

Virtual Happy Hours also help. They don't have to be booze focused.

[Corrado]

Or look at another solution - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23928666

My team was becoming more and more remote even before the Covid-19 lockdown and a constant, real-time connection is something that we were exploring.

[schwartzworld]

I struggle to think of something I'd like to have in my home less than an always-on camera.

[codazoda]

Can you explain random rooms for those of us that are not familiar? Just rooms for random chatter, like watercooler?

[phamilton]

My favorites (company of about 100 people):

  #random
  #hot-takes
  #woodworking
  #home-improvement
  #pictures-and-videos
  #eli5-tech

And many more.

[draebek]

I like these channels a lot. I have to ask, though, doesn't #hot-takes end up getting people in trouble? Like HR trouble? Or at least stuff like starting political flame wars between colleagues?

[phamilton]

#hot-takes is pretty fun. Some recent examples:

"The imperial system is awful compared to metric, but Farenheight is a better temperature scale for humans than Celsius."

"soft-close hinges/slides are a worthless and annoying novelty in modern cabinetry. they feel worse to open and closing a drawer without slamming it isn’t that hard"

"Cartoon Network was way better than Nickelodeon in the 90s-00s. Both of them win over Disney Channel any day"

"email should be banished, just like faxes and cheques. it’s an extremely inferior and unsuitable medium for how we communicate online these days"

"cucumber is an overrated and is only good in gin and tonics"

Basically, nothing is actually of consequence there, but people get fired up and have strong opinions. It's a fun interaction.

[draebek]

OK, good deal, I am very pleased to know that it's all acceptable behavior. Thanks for the detailed reply. :)

[ace32229]

Hot takes don't have to be political. Sport (X team deserve to win more than the current leaders), food (flats are better than drumsticks), etc.

[draebek]

I fully agree, but in an office of 100 people, I'm surprised everyone else agrees.

[t-writescode]

They don't need to agree! That's part of the fun of it!

A regular on my service is hotdogs are sandwiches or emacs is the superior text editor