Usenet Newsgroups are forums where people with a common interest can exchange ideas, ask questions, discuss topics, and announce events. Newsgroups are active, exciting cyberplaces to explore and socialize in. Anyone can join almost any newsgroup and each article can be read by anyone. They're not as pretty or sophisticated as the World Wide Web, but if you're relying solely on the Web for your information gathering, you're missing a virtual gold mine by neglecting these open forums.

Newsgroups can be the holy grail for finding information - it can also be frustrating.

By Joe Ebner

Topics Covered In This Article:
Newsgroup Software; Getting Started; Newsgroup Hierarchies; Subscribing To Newsgroups; Newsgroup Articles; Testing; Newsgroup Culture; And Guidelines

Each individual newsgroup contains a collection of messages, called articles, that focus on one specific topic. You can safely say that newsgroups cover every subject under the sun -- and beyond. Just imagine a place where you're free to discuss any topic no matter how arcane or unusual. Want to talk about a new band or maybe a favorite book or movie? Do you have an unusual hobby or skill you want to share? Maybe you're an unfortunate victim of a rare disease or medical condition. If so, there's bound to be a newsgroup that covers the subject.

Newsgroup Software

It's easy to read and contribute to newsgroups. If you use Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator to browse the Web you already have the necessary program, called a newsreader, installed on your computer. All the major online services -- America Online, Compuserve, The Microsoft Network, and Prodigy Internet -- offer built-in customized newsreaders for their subscribers. You can even download freeware and shareware newsreaders from the 'Net if you want.

Getting Started

The first time you start your newsreader it will ask you a few simple questions about your Internet connection. Specifically, it needs to know your email address, the name of your service provider's news server (The news server is called an NNTP server in technical jargon.), and a name you want to use as your signature at the end of any articles you post to the group.

After setting up your newsreader, log onto your service provider's news server. Most people use a dial up account with their provider to access the Internet. Just connect as you normally would, then launch your newsreader program to connect to your provider's news server.

When your newsreader connects to the news server for the first time it will retrieve a list of newsgroups your provider has at hand. (The service provider or online service signs up to receive them.) Be patient. This may take a few minutes depending on how many newsgroups your provider receives. Normally, you can expect around 28,000 or so newsgroups on a typical server.

Newsgroup Hierarchies

This master list of newsgroups from your provider’s server is divided into categories called the hierarchy -- three and four letter abbreviations that hint to what you can expect the group discussion is about. These can be further divided into sub-topics that narrow down the newsgroup subject.

The major newsgroup hierarchies are sci (science), comp (computer issues), soc (society and culture), rec (Recreation and hobbies), news (Internet news and related issues), talk (conversation), biz (Business related subjects), misc (a catch-all), and alt (alternative issues).

Subscribe

Just as you would subscribe to a newspaper or magazine before you receive them, you also need to subscribe to a newsgroup before you can participate. Not to worry, though. Unlike a newspaper or magazine there are no fees involved when you subscribe to a newsgroup. Subscribing is actually a function of the newsreader program that keeps track of your favorite newsgroups -- much like your Web browser's bookmarks. This list of subscribed groups is a whole lot easier to manage than weeding through the entire master list every time you want to select a newsgroup. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to any newsgroup anytime you want.

Going through the entire master list of newsgroups looking for groups you may be interested in is very time consuming. Fortunately, most newsreaders have a search function that will search the list for terms related to your interests.

For example, suppose you are interested in skiing. In the search window of your newsreader type skiing, and the newsreader will return a list of newsgroups that the word skiing appears in the title. Examples are: alt.skiing, rec.skiing, rec.skiing.alpine, rec.skiing.announce, rec.skiing.backcountry, rec.skiing.marketplace, rec.skiing.nordic, rec.skiing.resorts.europe, rec.skiing.resorts.misc, rec.skiing.resorts.northamerica, and rec.skiing.resorts.snowboarding.

As you can see by the above examples, skiing is well represented in newsgroups. Reading the titles will give you a good indication of what the discussion is about. If you are primarily interested in alpine skiing then rec.skiing.alpine would be the newsgroup for you to check out.

Articles

Once subscribed to a newsgroup you will get a list of all the group's articles you haven't read. Naturally, you haven’t read any of them if this is you first foray into the group. To read an article you simply click on the article's heading (Title). The article is then sent to your computer for you to read. (Each service provider decides how long to keep past articles on their server.)

The most common newsreaders display newsgroup messages in a split screen format, meaning that your computer screen is divided into two main sections or panes. The most common newsreaders display the article headers on the top pane while the article text is on the bottom pane. Article headers are arranged oldest to newest.

For each message posted you are given several options – one of which is to reply to the posting with your own response. Typing and sending off a response to a message will attach it to the original. Frequently, messages will contain tens of individual responses much like yours. This string of postings following an original message is called a thread.

Stringing messages together into threads helps you track of all the postings that are related to the original article. You can follow along almost like a conversation. Each response is posted under the original in the order they were received by the news server.

You also can post your own article. Just be sure that it is within the subject area of the newsgroup you’re posting to.

Try Testing First

A few newsgroups exist that allow your to practice posting before you actually contribute to a newsgroup. These groups also let you know that your software is set up and working correctly. Try posting a test message in alt.test, news.test, or misc.test. Check out the test newsgroup the next day to see if your message is listed.

Newsgroup Culture

Newsgroups, like other areas of cyberspace, has its own culture, rules, and established etiquette. So, before you jump in and start contributing you need to be aware of them. Most people are very forgiving to newcomers -- but others are not so lenient. Make one mistake and they jump on you with a diatribe of profanities that would make a steelworker blush. In newsgroup parlance this is called flaming, as in going down in flames.

If you enjoy these shouting matches there are newsgroups devoted to flame wars where you can dish-out all the abuse you want. Prepare yourself, though, to also be on the receiving end if you do. Feelings tend to run high in these newsgroups.

There are millions of people who contribute to newsgroups from all over the globe, so some ideas that cross your screen may seem weird and offensive. If some statement or idea offends you don’t take it personally. Simply ignore it. Some people will post controversial opinions just to see if they can get a reaction from others. (Flame Bait) If you respond to these articles you’re reacting just the way the author intended.

A Few Simple Newsgroup Guidelines:

• Know what is being discussed before posting a response. All it takes to follow this rule is to read the group for a few weeks to get a feel for how items are posted before putting in your two cents worth. This is called Lurking.
• Try to pick the closest related newsgroup to your subject. Again, you may get flamed from an irate self proclaimed expert if the group is not appropriate.
• Most newsgroups post a special message called the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Read this file before you ask a question related to the subject of the group. You may find someone has already asked what you wanted and the group has posted an appropriate answer.
• Keep in mind that after you send your messages off to the group, everyone who reads the group can read your posting. Think before you send and keep your messages short and to the point.
• Don't post your article to multiple newsgroups. In UseNet circles this practice is called "Spam" and usually results in hate email with you on the receiving end.
• Write in lower case. USING UPPER CASE TO MAKE YOUR ARTICLE STAND OUT IS INTERPRETED AS SHOUTING.

One Warning: Because of the free-wheeling and open nature of newsgroups, some can be quite offensive to some readers. Most noteworthy are those groups in the alt hierarchy, (Although that is not the only group, just the most notorious.) or any of the flame categories. If any of the subjects found in these groups offend you or, you have children and young adults who may access them without your knowledge, it's best to use either the parental controls your online service furnishes or your own control to limit access to these groups.