Friends and Family in Staff?

What is your opinion in having friends or family as staff members?

I think it is an very bad idea because they can get power crazy if they think they wont be fired because they are rl with the owner + if you have to fire them it can get ugly in real life if they are not the forgiving person.

 

Damnit John, you beat me to it!

I disapprove of it...

Family and friends may feel people under them (members, staff, even other administrators) are inferior to them, they think that they will be favored, can never get their chops busted, etc etc.

However, the pros to this is if you will be away from the site due to some reason, you can easily contact them via phone rather than waiting for a normal online buddy to hop on.

 

I think it really depends - but as I said in a previous thread, a majority of my personal friends have absolutely no idea as to what I do on the web. Doing this is actually quite unlike me (if you were to see me) - but I love it. There's something about connecting online that's fantastically fun.

It's always a risk when it comes to promoting friends and family members to a staff position. If they have a grasp of what's being discussed, then possibly. However, if they have absolutely no idea as to what you and your members are discussing, it could turn out to be a bit of a mess.

 

Me And My Friends Are A Good Team, But Theres NO Way We Can Fight Over Anything.
We Get Along Real Well, There Are Point In The Relationship Where We Like THink Of Whats
Best To Promote Site ANd Choose Members, See What Areas They're Good In. Thats How I Go.

 

Exactly - it shouldn't be a personal matter.

 

It can and can't be done. I read somewhere where someone ran a forum with his brother. Mostly because his brother wasn't active on the forum that much and was the technical guru for the site. It can be done, sure, but it can also be a costly mistake.

 

Yes I KNOw That It Can And Cant Be. "Sometimes" They Can Be Mistakes
My Family Has No Site Ownership Experience. I Only Preffer Friends.

 

Adding family members just because they are your family is a bad idea. But if a family member joined your forum, actively contributed and eventually earned the respect and everything else needed to be a great moderator or staff member, then I don't see anything wrong with it.

I don't discriminate or favor friends/family (when it comes to online forums) just because I know them well. They have the same chance at becoming a part of the team as any other forum member does.

 

To add to what you said in your post, if the family member knew their way around a MySQL, PostGre, etc. database, knew how to use phpMyAdmin and more, then they can be a better choice than a stranger. Of course, pick carefully.

 

No I don't. I did this once, on a site I previously owned, and he couldn't get past the fact that as the admin and owner, the "buck" stopped with me.

I will never do that again.

 

Yeah, Family Members Maybe Just Come To Close, And Dont See What We Seek
In Hosting AN Online COmmunity. Maybe They Just Want To Be Family. Not A
"Special Member" On Your Site. But Im Sure There Are Families That Stick Together.
On Games And Websites.

 

I have never faced this situation, but I do think adding a family member to the staff team, especially on a board that you do not own but only co-admin, is not a good idea. And if you're in the same house it really shouldn't be a big deal. What are they going to do, hold a grudge in real life because you wouldn't automatically make them superior to your other members because you're family? Meh, it wouldn't happen.

 

Ok, how about a question. What if you had a family member who was experienced with forums and had the technical know how?

 

Personally, I wouldn't -not- let them be staff because they are family or friend, if they are capable of the job. But to do it solely -because- they are family or friend is different, and you should probably think about it first.

 

Then having he/she as a member on the staff team could indeed become a possibility. For example, if I were to create a forum solely about the subject of medical engineering, having my father as an administrator would prove to be invaluable.

 

I didn't know how to answer the poll because some of the staff have become friends, although I didn't really know them before they were on staff. But the friendship is really based on our ability to work together, and especially to communicate conceptually about the forum. I'd like to think we'd be friends without the forum as a conversation-starter.

I would not recruit a family member or pre-existing friend to join staff. It could be very difficult if there is a strong disagreement on a forum management issue. I think the lines of authority can be confusing. I think the other staff will inevitably believe they see favoritism. And what if the working relationship just doesn't work out? In addition to difficulties for the forum, it could create an uncomfortable situation off-forum in the family or in the friends circle.

No doubt there are friendships & family relationships where it could work. But it's taking a chance to go that route - there are risks of substantial negatives off-forum as well as on.


I believe the previous owner of my hobby forum made a mistake in recruiting friends to serve as staff. It was too hard to deal with a list of issues ... mods not doing the job, mods treating members in ways they should not have been, mods resistant to activities and forum improvements when their support was needed. Basically decision-making and lines of authority were a mess. It was even more difficult to address all this because the forum owner saw the mod/friends in off-forum social groups, in-person, on a semi-regular basis.

 

Taking extended vacations was a problem for me when it came to friends on the team - they would leave for long amounts of time and not give me a reason as to why.

 

Re bringing on a friend or family member who is very well qualified ... I've always thought the great example of the hazards of such a move is the story of how Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones brought on his good friend and former college roommate Jimmy Johnson as head coach. In the end Jones fired Johnson. Dunno if they are still friends. Is it worth it? Only the principals can answer that.

 

That almost reminds me of Creative Hoster.

 

You're right on with that comment - actually, dead on.