The Netcenter's

Usenet News

Usenet News, also called network news, netnews, or just usenet, is among the most popular uses of the Internet. Along with the Web, these forums for discussion are what first come to mind when many people think of the Internet.

Through Usenet News, people with similar interests get together in special interest groups and exchange thoughts on a wide variety of subjects. You will be surprised: everything from drug problems to car enthusiasts to sports fans or celebrity chasers. They function somewhat like unmoderated radio phone-in talk shows, but you don't have to listen to every caller, only those who seem most interesting to you. Some are moderated, some are not. Some are Adult oriented.

Each message on Usenet is known as a news article. It is similar to an e-mail message. It is a text only - no fancy graphics, as on the Web.

Articles on Usenet are organized into newsgroups. Anyone who wants to read a newsgroup's articles must subscribe to the newsgroup and anyone can participate in the discussions by posting an article to a newsgroup. It does not cost anything to subscribe or post messages. Moderated newsgroups will go through a human who screens the postings for appropriateness. Unmoderated newsgroups have no screening and everything goes.

Finding an interesting newsgroup is easy. They are organized into sections, called hierarchies. Just like at the library, all the business books are shelved in the business section, so too on Usenet. There are hierarchies related to computers, business, science, recreation, and so on. Hierarchies are broken down into more narrowly defined areas of discussion. The codes of the areas of discussion are separated by dots. So the newsgroup comp.microsoft.windows discusses the many intracacies of Microsoft's popular desktop program.

Here is a simple example of how you can use Usenet. Suppose you are having a disagreement with a friend about baseball statistics and you can't find the answers anywhere. With Usenet news you could post this news article to the rec.sports.baseball newsgroup:

I would like to know which Boston Red Sox player knocked in the game-winning run against New York in the seventh game of the 1929 World Series. Please reply to lite@netcenter.com as soon as possible.

Someone from the rec.sport.baseball is bound to answer.

Some advice. Most newsgroups have a posting called a FAQ (which stands for Frequently Asked Questions); get a copy and read it before posting if you can. If you can't find the FAQ, watch and read the postings for a few days before jumping in, just to get the "feel" for the types of messages that are posted and some idea of the types of responses people typically get. If it is one of your first times posting a message, you might want to say so. Most people will be helpful and may offer advice on how to improve your postings in the future.