Do you have to be friends with people in order to get staff?

[fruity20 19]

It feels weird asking random strangers on the internet "hey i'm looking to get some moderators for a new wip roleplay thing!' and I feel like it makes way more to sense hire people you know or who at least have experience in moderation. One problem though, I suck at making friends. I feel like i care more about the process than the personal small talk folks like to do often and never seem to relate to the stuff folks say. I don't even know how to form bonds because i feel like it takes years to actually have someone consider you your friend. on the other hand, hiring a moderator and slowly have chats with them could work, but ultimately, i might as well pay my coders, my co admin, and my moderator once i get a steady income. 

[Kazetatsu 263]

not necessarily friends but it does help to choose from people you know or are familiar with whether because you've rped with them before or just seen them around a site and think they may be interested in your rp project . going with a total stranger is a risk cause you don't have as much of a feel for the other person or their skill set, but friends can be risky too, cause you might form a clique early on and miss issues that pop up on your site.

 

Ideally when starting you don't need to have a big team. small sites can be handled by one or two people. I'd say two is best, especially if they complement one another skill, or availability wise, and share the same vision for what the site should become. Once you have some members, the best place to draw staff from are them. they are already enthusiastic about the site, and in many cases may be eager to help in whatever ways they are best suited. they could be coding, or posting adverts, or showing newer members around long before you ask them to take on a staff role.

[Prophetess 137]

Both come with risks. You have to go with what you feel is best. There are pros and cons to both sides and you have to trust your best judgement. Sometimes it takes a bit to find a good fit for what you have in mind. If bringing in someone from an ad, trust your gut. I agree with Kazetatsu. Start with one other until you get a base and draw from there. At least then you have a feel of the people that join you and that they're willing to stay and stick with things.

[Arceus 1,082]

Actually, here's a funny story; every time I staff with someone that's my friend already, it all goes to hell in a hand-basket, pretty much. Being friends with someone doesn't mean they're going to be good staff fits. Even if you know someone really well, too, it doesn't prove they can do the job; being a decent person you get along and vibe with is not necessarily the same thing as being a good staffer, especially taking into consideration the vast range of skills that a staffer generally needs (and I'm not talking about just coding and graphics, I mean interaction and moderating judgement related things). A good number of friends that become staff will also come onto the staff team thinking they're thusly exempt from the site's rules, or no longer have to ask you before they do something, or varying bad-stuff like that. I'm gonna be blunt, if you want staff, prepare for unnecessary drama and headache eventually, unless you're one of those golden unicorns that finds the perfect co-staffer right off the bat.

 

Bringing strangers onto staff, I've never had that end well. I actually make my non-member staff promotions stay on the site for a while in a trial period first before I give them any real power, because I've had pretty much every dang non-member promotion turn out not to be a good fit for some reason or another. I also agree with promoting the members you get. Those normally work out best. But I do want to point out, humans are flaky, and role-players seem to be the worst flakes. Bonus, RL is a jerk. If something happens with that other staffer, you're probably going to be a solo admin, at least for a while. Just something to keep in mind, so try and accept you may be alone and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

There is nothing wrong with staffing alone. Some people will tell you otherwise, but I've done it just fine for over 10 years, and I'm not the only one.

[Kit the Human 759]

6 hours ago, Arceus said:

There is nothing wrong with staffing alone. Some people will tell you otherwise, but I've done it just fine for over 10 years, and I'm not the only one.

 

This. I've only needed/wanted staff for two things

- to manage a weird ass discord community I managed to gain from one forum while I was sleeping.

- to do link backs (which I don't do anymore)

 

Both of those people I consider friends, and have known them for years. But I also gave them a very specific task and indicated that I did not need any other help. I also made it very clear that they could step down at any time.

 

But otherwise? I do it alone. If I get stuck, I ask here. Typically it's coding related stuff I get stuck on.

 

I remember reading that some people have had success with staff wanted ads. So to answer your question, no.

 

You can do a staff search or promote from your member base. Or you can do it alone and just ask for help as necessary. There is no need to pay anyone for anything bar a custom made unique theme complete with images or the kind of modification that is beyond the scope of jcink. And a custom theme is not necessary for a successful forum.

[clipsed 231]

8 hours ago, Kazetatsu said:

but friends can be risky too, cause you might form a clique early on and miss issues that pop up on your site.

 

I have to disagree with this, or at least posit that the rewards outweigh the risks. Going in with a friend (or friends) helps to establish a community feel right off the bat. That said, it should be said that I loathe smalltalk so joining (or starting) a board and having that as my only option is less than ideal xD

 

7 hours ago, Arceus said:

There is nothing wrong with staffing alone. Some people will tell you otherwise, but I've done it just fine for over 10 years, and I'm not the only one.

 

Fourthing? Fifthing? This! Whenever I have handled a board from inception to opening, I have done it on my own. Unless time or skillset is a factor (no harm if it is!), you don't need the extra help out of the gate, and then when you do need the extra help, you'll have a member base to pull from 🙂

[fruity20 19]

1 hour ago, Kit the Human said:

 

This. I've only needed/wanted staff for two things

- to manage a weird ass discord community I managed to gain from one forum while I was sleeping.

- to do link backs (which I don't do anymore)

 

Both of those people I consider friends, and have known them for years. But I also gave them a very specific task and indicated that I did not need any other help. I also made it very clear that they could step down at any time.

 

But otherwise? I do it alone. If I get stuck, I ask here. Typically it's coding related stuff I get stuck on.

 

I remember reading that some people have had success with staff wanted ads. So to answer your question, no.

 

You can do a staff search or promote from your member base. Or you can do it alone and just ask for help as necessary. There is no need to pay anyone for anything bar a custom made unique theme complete with images or the kind of modification that is beyond the scope of jcink. And a custom theme is not necessary for a successful forum.

 

 

 

from what i've seen, a good portion of the forums i took a look at hooked me by it's design then it's content. Perhaps i'm kinda shallow but i feel like a nice theme is a good way to atleast hook a few folks. the forum i'm working on hasn't had a theme yet and the things I tried to get my hands  on were not to my liking or the code wasn't unavailable or gone. 

 

it's even more frustrating as once the tumblr incident happened, alot of blogs were detected which includes the jcink ones. but i'm personally not in a rush in getting the rp done (since it's slated for summer of 2019 once i get enough money to pay someone for the code). which gives me enough time to write up on lore, refine rules, and maybe learn a bit of code myself.

[Kazetatsu 263]

if you need to you could take someone on just for coding or commission a theme.