Do you ask for your staff personal contacts?

[Heatman]

Some people are very discret when it comes to releasing their personal contacts especially online. But as a forum owner, do you think that it's necessary to have your staff's personal contact to reach them in case they haven't been online for a while days without any notice they wouldn't be able to come online?

 

[Nomad]

I ask my staff to connect with me through telegram and slack. These communication apps will let you connect with your staff at any time. However, don't ask for personally identifying information such as real name, real address, date of birth, etc.

 

[Heatman]

I ask my staff to connect with me through telegram and slack. These communication apps will let you connect with your staff at any time. However, don't ask for personally identifying information such as real name, real address, date of birth, etc.

I will never ask for such personal details. It looks very suspicious to do that and only a fool would provide those information. I can only ask for your WhatsApp number at most.

 

[Nomad]

Sometimes when I build a long-term relationship with the staff, I connect with them through social media platforms, mostly on Twitter and Facebook. I once declined a paid staff job just because the owner asked me to submit a copy of my passport.

 

[Resolute]

Some people are very discret when it comes to releasing their personal contacts especially online. But as a forum owner, do you think that it's necessary to have your staff's personal contact to reach them in case they haven't been online for a while days without any notice they wouldn't be able to come online?

I do not ask for any personal information from my staff. The only time I might consider asking for any information as if I’m hiring the person as a paid staff member. But even then I’m not sure what that would look like.

 

[saoussen5765]

There are softwares that grabs email from a site so giving personal email is not recommanded and will be very rude with spam and junk comments that doesn't make any sense to you then I think giving personal phone number is also not recommanded for the same purpose, may be whats app contact or skype will be better.

 

[anisboukezzoula]

talking about my experience at Bizdustry, yes we have contact with each other. it is very helpful to share updates, user troubles, and decisions to take for the forum.

 

[Sincerem11]

There are softwares that grabs email from a site so giving personal email is not recommanded and will be very rude with spam and junk comments that doesn't make any sense to you then I think giving personal phone number is also not recommanded for the same purpose, may be whats app contact or skype will be better.

Unless the WhatsApp contact is a business WhatsApp, if the contact is a personal one, then it means you've given your personal information too. Because, through your number, you can contacted direct, with Truecaller or any other app, your location can be visible to the caller.

 

[Kyng]

No, although if I build up a strong relationship with them, I sometimes end up exchanging that with them anyway .

 

[Cory]

I think only one board I was a staff member on shared personal contact info in the staff lounge. I think we mainly used it for spam attacks and disruptive members. I don't think it's necessary to share personal contact info like your phone number when you can generally contact them via email and most report post features can send an email to staff members that alert them of content that breaks the rules.

 

[Ronald]

Some people are very discret when it comes to releasing their personal contacts especially online. But as a forum owner, do you think that it's necessary to have your staff's personal contact to reach them in case they haven't been online for a while days without any notice they wouldn't be able to come online?

I understand your point but I wouldn't go so far as to collect those kind of personal details. Personally, I think that the knowledge of a staff member's social media handle is enough to contact them in this case.

 

[ladyquack]

I don't ask for personal info, but we do share our Skype usernames (we're an odd site that doesn't really use Discord), but that's about it. Some of my staff have been on the team with me for 5+ years, so some of us have exchanged addresses and whatnot to send letters and cards, but it's not a requirement.

 

[ClicketyKat]

Well, when people sign up they do so with an active email so that counts as something personal. I also like to know their first real name because I give them mine. I don't ask for a phone number though!

 

[Shortie]

I don't personally ask for my staff members personal details at all as I feel that can be too much when it comes to an online friendship. The only time I had any staff members personal details was when I had two staff members who helped me manage my forum and my hosting and all I had access to was their emails and their phone numbers so that I could call them if anything went wrong that I needed help with or for example, when I had my gallbladder removed, they could stay in contact with me and let me know how things were going. I feel when it comes to personal information, it should be something that is given cautiously and only when you feel you can trust the person enough.

 

[Reverie]

I like to have some sort of "instant" communication available with staff. Discord, Messenger, Texting.... just something that can connect people quicker than perhaps a PM on the forum. I enjoy texting my staff members because they also become more like family that way!

 

[Heatman]

I understand your point but I wouldn't go so far as to collect those kind of personal details. Personally, I think that the knowledge of a staff member's social media handle is enough to contact them in this case.

The best I would go for would be their Gmail assuming it's not the they used to register on my forum that they are using for their personal email.

 

[Uncrowned]

One of the goals of my project is to create an all-in-one solution for my staff and communication. I don't like using options that take my staff off-site to complete on-site goals. However, one thing missing from this topic is the types and scale of the staff in question. Most staff, moderators, writers, etc. are perfectly fine not needing any contact information as when something major hits the site, these staff are generally additional resources and not needed to fix the problems. However, once you get into admins and server staff, these start to become more essential positions and now things start to turn towards getting contact information of some type.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I currently don't have any other staff on my forum, however when I owned Mighty No. 9 Universe, I had my staff add me on Skype. This was before Discord was around, and most people used Skype for one on one chat. I think it's a good idea to be able to contact your staff outside the forum.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

No, not really.

But I do give them my personal email address in case they ever need me for something.

I used to give out my number and ask for text only but people like to call and I don't like talking on the phone that much. I'm a texter haha so I really don't give that out anymore.

 

[Paul]

No but many have asked for mine and I'm fine with it, have talked to 3 of them on the phone (2 of them in same country as me and 1 not). Even talked to their partners and kids, one of the kids refers to me as Uncle Paul, I have 2 nephews so all of a sudden now having a niece is odd

edit: Many also added me on facebook and tbh, not phased.