You may question why certain postings go through, or why certain policies are implemented. You may have a feeling that you would do things differently if you were the moderator.
Actually, you probably would do things differently. However, that's only part of the story.
As a subscriber, you see only the public part of the group. Many other things are usually going on behind the scenes, and you'll never know about them. INSERT LINK FROM GROSSMANISRAEL ABOUT HOW YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. POLITICS SECTION THERE? Only the moderator knows the big picture. INSERT LINK TO BIG PICTURE - STORY ABOUT CONSTRUCTION OF RECHOV YAFO. IS THAT ALSO IN GROSSMANISRAEL?
The moderator knows how he planned to set up the group and what he wants to accomplish with it. Individual subscribers who do not have that vision could change the direction of the group — for better or for worse.
Chat group may be able to take any direction at all without creating a problem. However, groups such as ours were designed in order to reach specific goals. Those goals were all stipulated in the individual group guidelines. The moderator takes all necessary steps in order to assure that the groups move as anticipated and intended.
There are other reasons for moving groups in a certain direction.
The moderator is privy to the needs of all of the subscribers, including those who contact him offlist with specific issues and problems. He tries to work out the dynamics of the group so that everybody is as happy as possible.
Individual subscribers are rarely aware of these issues and they will not be told about them. They are often confidential. However, if any individual subscriber unwittingly tries to pull the group in a specific direction, then it might affect and hurt another subscriber.
Think of the group as an orchestra. Everybody in the orchestra knows his own instrument and can play it by himself but unless the conductor brings everybody together and understands all of the individual needs, then the orchestra will not be successful. Only he knows when one instrument should be quieter and one instrument should be louder, or when one instrument should give the focus to another instrument.
In our groups the conductor is the moderator. The success of the group depends upon the ability of the moderator to do his job. If some people in the orchestra decide that they want to have independence and not listen to the moderator then it will destroy the entire orchestra.
Find out more about moderating these groups
Find out more general guidelines that apply to all of our Jewish groups
Find out more about other Jewish and Hebrew groups
Are you required to read this webpage for a course? Do NOT print out the article. It is copyrighted.
Your exercise for this article is as follows:
Many issues were raised in this group. Were they all included in these guidelines?
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