[c23gooey]

We follow #1 and #2 in our company. I like #1 because it definitely helps create a more open information environment. It often takes a little while when a new employee starts to train them into this. Quite often they will come in and ask all their questions in DM, I'll always politely push them to ask the questions in the appropiate channel.

I like #2 because it keeps the channels quieter when conversations are had within threads.

Something we've done recently is cut down the number of channels. We essentially just use #general and #random now. We're only a small company (<20 employees) so it facilitates a better information flow if everything is in the one place. One thing we also do, is if a thread contains valuable information we will transcribe this into our documentation system (currently confluence)

[ethbr0]

To me, the biggest use of channels is "One place I would ask a question about {major category}"

F.ex. at my company we have #help-{product} channels where engineers from each product team hang out and answer questions once a day or so

I guess the primary utility is roughly grouping queries and distinguishing question from general.