These forums are quite different from the others on the Internet.
Anybody can start up a forum easily. In most of the other forums, people join and chat about random topics. This has become a very popular pastime for many people.
That description does not match these forums. They are run in a very different manner. These are information groups, not chat groups.
We are very selective about our subscriber base. Anybody can join, but some people are asked to leave. Our goal is quality rather than quantity of subscribers - but the result has been that we've generally had both.
People whom I would not want to have in my own living room are removed from the forum.
Another unique aspect of these forums is the professional and theological board of directors. They assure that the quality and level of the postings must reflect that of a professional forum and they must be acceptable according to traditional Jewry.
Furthermore, these forums are moderated. Each message is reviewed before it is posted to the group. At this very moment, the moderator is busy doing something else - he is writing this document. That means that some messages will have to wait. This affect the level of urgency and it is very disturbing to some people. Subscribers to these groups must accept this delay.
These groups also have a series of guidelines. As a result, only 15 and 35 percent of all the messages which are submitted to me get posted. The messages that are not posted do not meet the group criteria that is posted in this website.
These criteria can be modified or adapted to the needs of the group. The group members may request the changes and if the changes are acceptable then the criteria change accordingly. However, there are no special cases for individuals to break the group guidelines.
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?
Copyright © David Grossman. World rights reserved. This article may not be printed, forwarded, reproduced, or copied in any way or in any medium without written permission from David Grossman.
