What's a Newsgroup?
A newsgroup is aptly named. It's a (virtual) place where people with
common interests can share news-ask questions and get answers, sound
off on issues, exchange pictures or music-on just about any topic
under the sun from water polo to extra-terrestrial life. There are
literally thousands upon thousands of these groups.
The worldwide network of newsgroups is managed by Usenet, which uses
the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) to communicate with news
servers. Your Internet service provider (ISP) has a Usenet server it
uses as a gateway to Usenet servers around the globe. Usenet is not
centrally controlled or distributed, and each Usenet site, like your
ISP, decides which newsgroups to carry1.
No one owns newsgroups. Most are unmoderated free-for-alls in which
anything goes-reputable information, yes, but peppered with
advertising, chain letters, profanity, and other "noise." In a
moderated newsgroup, on the other hand, the moderator may exert control
over what appears in the newsgroup, so you'll find the quality of the
news that's posted is noticeably improved over that on unmoderated
newsgroups. Moderators help keep out profanity, sometimes organize
news threads, and offer links to posting guidelines.
As you might imagine, newsgroups generate a lot of messages which
you'll need a newsreader to read. That's where Outlook Express comes
in. Your first step will be to set up a news server account in Outlook
Express and then you'll be ready to find those newsgroup soul mates.
Once you find a newsgroup, engaging with people works a lot like
e-mail, which is why it makes perfect sense to use Outlook Express.
People correspond by posting messages back and forth, which you can
read and reply to, adding your two cents to the conversation (or
thread). And if you find a newsgroup that you want to return to, you
can subscribe to it. Many newsgroups offer a no-cost subscription, but
not all.
--
"Fang, Fire and Claws, Oh----to be a Dragon"
Rolex
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