Instant messaging is not communication culture

Many teams believe they are communicating because they are constantly messaging on Slack or Teams.

In reality, most of that is just message traffic.

This is why GitLab builds its culture around "Handbook First." Important knowledge gets written down. It stays persistent. Everyone pulls from a single source of truth instead of scrolling a thread.

GitLab even lets Slack expire. Only 90 days of activity gets retained, then it's gone. On purpose.

Because if Slack never expires, people start treating it like a project manager. A place where decisions live and get buried. Instant messaging tools were built for instant replies, not for an asynchronous culture that outlives the conversation.

Write it down or lose it. That's the trade.

Instant messaging is not communication culture. A handbook is.