If you've been on the net for any length of time, you've probably heard mention of Usenet Newsgroups. The newsgroups are a collection of messages organized are specific topics. They are also referred to as Internet Discussion Groups, newsgroups, and usenet. Anyone can post a message to a newsgroup. Some newsgroups are unmoderated which means that messages are added to the newsgroup regardless of the message contents. Some newsgroups are moderated which means there is one person (or company, or organization) that must approve posts before they make it into the newsgroup. Newsgroups are an excellent source of information, entertainment, assistance, etc.
To read and post messages in a newsgroup, you will first need a way to access them. One method is to get a news reader software package that will download messages from your ISP and post message to your ISP. Another method is to access the newsgroups via DejaNews. DejaNews is a web site that provides a web based interface to the newsgroups. This has several advantages and a few disadvantages. DejaNews is often faster than downloading the messages from your ISP, it provides you an easy way to search all the newsgroups for a specific topic, it allows you to browse through the newsgroups according to common categories, and postings are never deleted (most ISPs delete postings after a short, set period of time). However, some news reader software packages present news posts in a more logical order, some allow you to filter spam, and some allow advanced, custom filters.
Usenet newsgroups are arranged in a hierarchy sort of like the root system of a tree. Think of it maybe like a file system. You have directories (or folders) that can contain files and other directories (or folders). For example, the newsgroup rec contains both posts and several other newsgroups such as rec.skydiving and rec.scuba.
One of your primary concerns when posting to a newsgroup should be Netiquette. Netiquette is a special form of etiquette that applies to the internet and especially to Usenet Newsgroups. If you do not follow netiquette in your postings, you will annoy or even enrage many other users. You may find yourself receiving hundreds or thousands of hate-mail messages both in the newsgroup itself and via email.
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Copyright © 1995-1998 Carl P. E. dos Santos All rights reserved |
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