Newsgroups

This is a type of discussion group on a Usenet system, which is older than the Internet. Usenet is available on a wide variety of computer systems and networks.

Some newsgroups are of a general nature while others are dedicated to a specific topic. Usenet equires no personal registration with newsgroups except a simple subscription, which enables your ability to access particular newsgroups.

Some newsgroups are moderated but most are not. Moderaters (or those that run the newsgroup) are called "news administrators." If there is a moderator, the article or message is sent to the moderator for approval before appearing in the newsgroup. After an article or message appears in the newsgroup, it is then distributed through an interconnected computer system by way of a wide variety of networks including the Internet and UUCP.

Newsgroups are technically distinctive because a free software program called a newsreader must be installed on the computer in order to read newsgroup postings. See Newsreader for more information on newsgroup access.

Active newsgroups are listed in the periodic "List of Active Newsgroups" postings which appear regularly in news.lists.misc.

Organization

Newsgroups are organized into hierarchies. The "Big Eight" are:

comp.*: computer-related discussions (comp.software, comp.sys.amiga)
humanities.*: Fine arts, Literature, and Philosophy (humanities.classics, humanities.design.misc)
misc.*: Miscellaneous topics (misc.education, misc.forsale, misc.kids)
news.*: Discussions and announcements about news (meaning Usenet, not current events) (news.groups, news.admin)
rec.*: Recreation and entertainment (rec.music, rec.arts.movies)
sci.*: Science related discussions (sci.psychology, sci.research)
soc.*: Social discussions (soc.college.org, soc.culture.african)
talk.*: Talk about various controversial topics (talk.religion, talk.politics)