How to Participate in Discussion Groups
The North Star Online Discussion Groups are members-only, password-protected, Google Groups. You must receive permission to join.
Admission
To receive permission to join, you must read and agree to abide by certain rules of membership. We also require a brief description of yourself, your current situation, and a statement of why you are joining – that is, what you hope to contribute and to get out of the group. This information, however, will be kept strictly confidential and will be for moderator reference only. We ask it in an effort to maintain an atmosphere of safety within the groups.
Optional Anonymity
Once admitted, you may, if you desire, remain anonymous or post under a pseudonym. You should be aware that your e-mail address will be visible to anyone in the group. If you need more anonymity than that, you should join under a secondary or non-disclosing e-mail address that does not provide identifying information. You can get a personalized Google e-mail address for free by clicking here.
How it Works
Once you have been accepted, you will be able to send e-mail to the entire group by emailing the group address. You will also receive messages from the group. The daily e-mail volume varies, depending on the group, but can be as high as several messages per day. You will have the option of
- 1) receiving individual e-mails from everyone who posts,
- 2) receiving a single e-mail a day containing a "daily digest" of all the posts, or
- 3) receiving no e-mails at all, but rather reading the posts on the private, password-protected Google Groups homepage (Note: option 3 is available only to users who sign up using a Google email account).
When you reply to any particular post to the group, your response will automatically be sent to all members of the group.
Discussions are generally free-flowing and casual.
Join a North Star Discussion Group.