>Slack isn't Tinder.

Heh, my Slack messages are way more casual than Tinder messages. I think the essential difference is I just met someone who I'm talking to on Tinder (hopefully :D), while on Slack I'm probably talking to someone I've known for years; it's fundamentally more casual.

One can use properly-punctuated and thoughtful but terse messages to communicate with both clarity and importance.

With care, short messages can be very effective.

Agree. And I think “with care” is the important piece here. Using a simple Bezos like “?” is the opposite of that.

The "?" has its reputation from what the institution and leadership appears to have created around it. That Amazon's "?" means "Drop everything and get back to me within a day because it may be of great priority to the company" is an artifact created through years of interaction.

"?" and "!" are great for a quick/informal communication of curiosity or interest.

If my partner gets an unexpected bill in her inbox and sends over a friendly "?", it doesn't carry anywhere near the meaning that Bezos intends. If I got one, it'd mean something like, "Hey, this is odd. Do you know where it came from?" It is all about broader context.

Fortunately, I don't work for a manager who would send me just a "?", but if I did, it would go ignored. I think it would tickle me if they followed up with "?!".

Anytime my boss has sent me a '?' with no context, I've always responded with a '?' of my own. Context has always been forthcoming afterwards.

And they keep doing it?

?

Yep. It's become more of a "hey you, look at me" kind of thing for us with my '?' being a "yo, you've got my attention- what's up?" kind of response. It works this way for him and I, but I wouldn't expect it to be an inherent shorthand in any of my other relationships.

I would prefer the “...” response.

I have totally worked for this manager. Fuck them.