Newsgroups

What is a newsgroup?

A newsgroup is usually located within the Usenet system, a worldwide distributed internet discussion system, and is used like a repository of messages and information posted by a big amount of users all over the world. Functionally, newsgroups are quite similar to discussion forums on the World Wide Web. So, a newsgroup can be defined as a virtual web – based community in which its users can utilize the interchange dynamic to discuss many different kinds of topics and subjects in addition to sharing information with each other on the hosted news server. To read the contents of newsgroups directly from the news server’s disk, it is necessary to apply appropriate newsreader software. Newsgroups have continued to grow in their popularity by people from many different walks of life, despite the enduring and pervasive use and growth of blogs, formal discussion forums, and social networking sites like facebook and myspace.


How do newsgroups work?

In today’s world, many different types of organizations and institutions are able to host and benefit from the use of newsgroup servers. Moreover, it is quite common that Internet service providers create their own news server; or, if they do not have their own, they pay to access them. For that, there are plenty of companies who sell licenses to organizations for accessing the premium news servers.

Within every news server exists an agreement in which the synchronization with other news servers is regulated. According to this, news servers work together to create a broad network in which the messages are stored locally and shared with other servers to whom they are connected to.


What are the existing types of newsgroups?

Traditionally, the majority of newsgroups keep strictly to a specific subject matter or topic of interest. The postings generated on these discussion boards are labeled as “on-topic”, and do not drift away from the main focus. On the contrary, there are also newsgroups that steer away from having a singular topic and allow their users to post anything that they want, or “off - topic” subject matter as it is called. These posts are then regarded as the “on-topic” discussions due the wide variety of topics and interchange amongst them. The “on – topic” posts of newsgroups are similar in structure to the more developed and broader known modern day web – blog. In this type of forum, there is an absence of guidelines and limitations laid out for the users, creating a medium in which theme based discussions and the exchange of information is available to anyone with access to the internet.

Furthermore, there are two different types of newsgroups, either binary coded or written texts. Technically, there is no difference, but it allows the user and the host to minimize the network bandwidth usage, the overall amount of network traffic, and the usage of resources.

So, the big advantages of newsgroups are: connecting people with the same (specific) interests, generating information from the discussions, and making this valuable information available to people from all over the world. A big disadvantage, though, is that newsgroups are often prone to spamming. This, in effect, deters some users from the sites and eventually causes many to stop following these newsgroups anymore due to the annoyance from the spamming.


What are the topics and subjects of newsgroups?

In the following codes, the signification and the content of the most important newsgroups will be mentioned.
The common codes, or so called “hierarchies” within newsgroups are:

admin* (= administrator)
Refers to the person that is in charge of monitoring the performance of the newsgroup, in addition to overseeing the information that is generated on its discussion boards.

alt* (= alternative)
These groups (also called “Variety – groups”) contain a conglomeration of short-termed topics that are as easily created as they are left alone.

comm* (= communication)
Typical mediums for communication with newsgroups are web browsing, internet connection and access, mobile phones, and so on.

comp* (= computer)
The content of these discussions are often concerning the interchanges between the different software and hardware systems.

etc* (= et cetera)
Refers to the themes included in a discussion which can not be classified in other codes and hierarchies.

market*
A virtual marketplace for suppliers and customers to engage in the process of buying and selling goods and services as seen on sites such as ebay, but at a smaller scale.

misc* (= miscellaneous)
This discussion forum implies various topics, quite similar to etc-groups.

news*
Comprehends, basically, the array of posts concerning news, tidings, and scoops.

org* (= organization)
Exchange of information about associations, clubs, unions, organizations, and institutions.

rec* (= recreation)
The subjects within these types of discussions in this hierarchy are for instance leisure, recreation, games, and hobbies.

sci* (= science)
Interchange and discussions surrounding a wide array of sciences.

soc* (= social)
Includes everything which has something to do with societies and communities at large.

Talk*
This forum has its interests in Chit-chat, small talk, and gossip.

Of course, a lot of newsgroups are in many different countries, languages and communities. Here are some further examples for newsgroup - hierarchies:

fr.* (= France)
Discussions in French

de.* (= Deutschland)
Interchanges in German

cn.* (= China)
Chinese news groups

uk.*(= United Kingdom)
Discussions on matters in the UK

microsoft.*
Discussions about Microsoft products

hp.* (= Hewlett Packard)
Hewlett-Packard internal news groups

In addition to that, there is the free* hierarchy. There are a lot of local sub-hierarchies within this main - hierarchy, usually for specific countries or cultures (for example like free.de.* for Germany).


What is the meaning of newsgroups for e-business?

Regarding the possibilities within newsgroups about interchange and exchange of information, newsgroups could have a high value. Utilizing the newsgroup and others forums as such allows companies to engage in a modern day form of information exchange in addition to having the ability to innovate and refine new ideas within the company’s interests. In comparison to other web-based discussion and business forums such as blogs and sites such as eBay, newsgroups are still lacking in their development and accessibility to the everyday internet user whereas the aforementioned forums thrive in these areas. Still, newsgroups are a dynamic medium for interchange and exchange within specific companies and are surely going to grow in their use and development in the years to come as web-based tools for innovation such as these become more and more invaluable to businesses across the globe. 




Meta-Tags: Usenet; Hierarchies; on – topic; off – topic




Sources

http://www.www-kurs.de/newgroup.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup
http://www.jrsoftware.org/newsgroups.php