Is it a bad idea to include my phone number in an email address?

August 5, 2008 11:54 AM

Is it a bad idea to include my phone number in an email address?

I need to get some new business cards printed, and while tinkering with the design I realised that I could pack all the information I need on the cards into a single email address, like so:

[phone number]@[my full name].com

Is this a bad idea? The number in question can already be found with a Google search of my name, but I wonder if it's a good idea from a security point of view to combine the two, and whether it might lead to an increase in SMS spam (if email spam people and SMS spam people are one and the same).

Also, security concerns aside, would presenting my contact information like this confuse folk?

posted by jack_mo to computers & internet (17 comments total)

Well, it's not very memorable to people who toss your card and don't have access to their email address list. I wouldn't find it confusing, but I would find it annoying. Like a throwback to the mid 90s when email hostnames were ridiculously long and complicated and user names were randomly generated, remember those?
posted by Science! at 12:02 PM on August 5, 2008

It's too cute.

It's a bad idea because a good e-mail address is easy to remember enter correctly. [randomstringofdigits]@whatever.com is not easy to enter correctly, or remember. Of course, if you've got a catch-all e-mail address, this is irrelevant.

Also, I, for one, would not look at a ten-digit ID and think "oh, that must be his phone number."

Can't speak to whether it would increase SMS spam, but it seems unlikely.
posted by adamrice at 12:05 PM on August 5, 2008

Yes, people will find it confusing. Unless you add an explanatory note of some kind, and that really defeats your minimalist object.

Spammers use largely automated processes to harvest addresses; their software isn't going to be looking for addresses that could conceivably contain phone numbers.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 12:13 PM on August 5, 2008

There's a reason business card designs don't vary much. They're already minimalist.

I would concentrate on having a nice but not obtrusive design, and put all the standard information in that people (and occasionally, software biz-card readers) expect. It's actually showing respect to your customers that you're not trying to be too cute or too pretentious or too anything.
posted by dhartung at 12:17 PM on August 5, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, security concerns aside, would presenting my contact information like this confuse folk?

Yes.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:21 PM on August 5, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I think the idea is clever and in theory I find it charming. In practice, Jesus Hell, I would never remember your email address and I would find the whole ten-digit email address deeply annoying.

Also: what happens if your number changes?
posted by kate blank at 12:31 PM on August 5, 2008

I don't think the number-changing scenario is as big a deal with number portability and cell phones as the like...

But I mean, in the same vein, why not just put ALL of your business card information on one line, ending in @yourdomain.com? Problem solved! ;-)

I don't think it'd be immediately evident and it'd look kinda weird. Our 866 number is 9SYNAPSE and you'd be shocked how many people freak out because ZOMG THAT'S EIGHT DIGITS!

What do I mean by that? Well, how do you dial an @ sign? (Seriously, I'll bet someone asks that.)
posted by disillusioned at 12:35 PM on August 5, 2008

i think if you format it as [e-mail], it would be more recognizable than [e-mail]
posted by kidsleepy at 1:06 PM on August 5, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

If this will be going to your phone and you start getting SMS spam due to this the only way a lot of phone companies have of blocking is to disable access using [e-mail]. Also, I think it'd be confusing and people will start sending you huge e-mails that mightn't be readable as a SMS message (depends on how your provider does this, I've T-mobile and they send messages send to my phone number e-mail address as SMS).
posted by zaphod at 1:06 PM on August 5, 2008

it's kind of nippy to put in numbers instead of a name - also don't ever give people on the internet your number - society could collapse - maybe give a number where they can phone and can hear the sound of you typing : )
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:06 PM on August 5, 2008

Unless it's:

[e-mail].....

No.
posted by Debaser626 at 1:42 PM on August 5, 2008

Maybe this is more than you want to bother with, but why not a link to a contact page that has your phone number and email? That way it's one line on your card, and if your number or email ever changes, you just change the info. Obviously, it will be a pain in the ass for anyone who wants to whip out your card and give you a ring right then. I don't know if the people you give your card to are likely to do that or not. The other option is to have a nice clean card with hardly any information at all, and then just write your phone number and email in a dashing script on the back at the time you hand it over. Certainly a more memorable moment than just handing over a card, but useless if you give them out by the handful.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:25 PM on August 5, 2008

Bad idea, then!

I honestly thought that remembering email addresses had gone the way of remembering 'phone numbers - people only know their own, since their computers and 'phones do the remembering for them. But since nearly everyone is saying that, er, rememberability is important, numbers before the @ defo isn't a good idea. (And it would've been 16 numbers/characters, as I need the +44 international dialling code and brackets around the leading zero of my 11 digit number, which is even worse than the 10 digits everyone assumed.)

They're already minimalist.

Not minimalist enough, dammit!

Anyway, thanks for the help everyone. I think I'll get a few of my minimal cards done for my own perverse enjoyment to give to people who I reckon might like them, and stick with tradition for the main run.
posted by jack_mo at 2:43 PM on August 5, 2008

The other option is to have a nice clean card with hardly any information at all, and then just write your phone number and email in a dashing script on the back at the time you hand it over. Certainly a more memorable moment than just handing over a card, but useless if you give them out by the handful.

Yeah, I used to have a card with just my name on it, and would write whatever details I wanted the person to have on the other side. Cool in theory, but doing the writing bit gets annoying very quickly. Also, people look at you like you're a minor character from American Psycho.
posted by jack_mo at 2:57 PM on August 5, 2008

Actually, I think [e-mail] would make a fantastic business card. Then again, mine is similarly minimal - [e-mail] with my number below. That's it. I mean seriously, if you can't figure out my name from my domain, please don't call.

The thing is, if you get mail at 212.555.1212 but reply from [e-mail], it really isn't confusing. It's routine for people to email info@ and get a reply from and correspond with specificperson@ and everyone manages to cope just fine.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:01 PM on August 5, 2008

Hmm, I've been thinking of having my next card be

      [e-mail]

But, in my mock ups , it makes me look like a product, not a person.
posted by signal at 3:43 PM on August 5, 2008

Adding to the chorus of no's here. Although most people don't remember email addresses by heart, most email programs use auto-complete in the To: field. So unless I specifically add you as a contact with the appropriate information, I would have to start typing "555" to bring up your address. Also, numbers change, your name most likely won't.

My email has been [e-mail] for the 10 years I've had the domain. Easy to use, easy for people to remember. I also set up other task specific addresses like mobile@ to forward to my phone, junk@ for throwaway stuff, etc. Since moving to Gmail, I haven't needed those at all.
posted by shinynewnick at 7:39 PM on August 5, 2008