Chat, Social Media
Is Slack Safe? A Slack Review for Parents
Recommended Age
12 and up
Overview
If you’re in the workforce, you probably know that Slack is the go-to place for corporate messaging. It takes the place of endless emails, as Slack is a team communication platform to message, share files, and collaborate in one place. In other words, it’s like instant messaging with a ton of different channels. You might be wondering why kids would be using this, and if it’s considered a safe platform. Here’s what parents should know.
How Slack Works
Slack is mostly used for its invite-only workspaces. A workspace can be created by any group — it could be a company, a club, an organization, a class, etc. Within the workspace, you can have tons of different channels for various messaging needs. You can have public channels where everyone in the workspace can access. Or you can have private channels for select people. Lastly, you can have private, one-on-one chats.
Slack is also known for its ability to connect various apps, such as Google Drive and Zoom. This makes it easy collaborate on files together and hop on face-to-face meetings, all within one platform.
A lesser-known feature of Slack is its Slack Communities. This is not a private, invite-only workspace for a unified group of people, but a public workspace based on a topic that anyone can join. Two important things to know about this. Even though it’s “open,” you still need to have a specific link to join it. Additionally, you cannot access a directory of these communities through the Slack app.
Are kids using Slack?
First, you don’t have to worry that Slack is the new Snapchat — it’s definitely not. For the most part, kids are usually on Slack because the club or class they’re in uses it for group communication. It’s similar to Discord, GroupMe, or Band. Occasionally, kids may use Slack to socialize, but it’s certainly not as common.
Harmful Content 😲
The app itself doesn’t have any inappropriate content. The only potential for harmful content would be from the other users in the workspace. Your child is most likely in an invite-only space managed by a teacher or administrator, which means they would be able to see messages in public channels. Some kids may take advantage of the private spaces to send bullying or inappropriate content. This could be text messages, as well as pictures, videos, files, etc.
Predation 🚨
Whenever there is online messaging, there is a possibility of online predation. Slack doesn’t have as many opportunities for kids to connect with strangers, but this doesn’t mean it’s impossible. A predator may meet a child on another platform and ask them to join their invite-only workspace on Slack to message without prying eyes. In this way, Slack’s invite-only structure can be a double-edged sword. Be sure to always keep tabs on the apps your child could be engaging in private chats.
Positive Value 💙
One of the reasons Slack is popular in the workplace and for club organizers is its ease of use and ability to share important documents. Some messaging platforms don’t have the best built-in features for discussion and collaborating with various types of files, while Slack is specifically designed for an organized way to communicate while working on any kind of project.
Privacy 🔒
Upon signing up and joining a workspace on Slack, users are required to provide an email and name, but no other personal information is required.
Parental Controls ✅
Slack doesn’t have specific, built-in parental controls, which makes sense given that kids are not its target audience. However, administrators have a fair amount of options to manage communication settings for their workspace. This includes:
- Approve or deny requests to join
- Creation of public channels
- Enable or disable direct messaging entirely
- Restrict who can DM whom
- Limit DMs to only certain roles
- Prevent students from messaging people outside the workspace
*Note: some of these features are only available on a paid Slack plan.
Bark can also keep your child safer on Slack. With Bark, parents can:
- Block Slack entirely, if needed.
- Manage when your child can use Slack throughout the day.
- Monitor group DMs, individual DMs, and private channels.
So, should my kid download it?
If they’re downloading it for a specific club or class that’s managed by a trusted adult, then we’d say this is a fairly low-risk download. But it’s always important to be informed of how and why your child is using any messaging app.
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