Newsgroups are really discussion groups. They work much like e-mail, except that the messages are sent to a central location where they are accessible to be read by anyone who’s interested instead of only to individuals.

Newsgroups are organized by subject, and they have names like alt.agriculture and humanities.language.sanskrit. To read messages posted to a particular newsgroup, you must first subscribe to the newsgroup. Subscribing to a newsgroup costs nothing, and you don’t have to register with anyone.

Newsgroups are an excellent way to share information, to get answers, and to give your opinion on a myriad of subjects, ranging from scones to dreams, and from cars to botany. There are thousands of newsgroups, and people from all over the world participate in them.

How do I access newsgroups?

The Netscape Collabra component of Netscape Communicator is used to find and subscribe to Newsgroups. Netscape Messenger is the component used to read and post newsgroup messages once you've subscribed to one. You can access any newsgroup you want this way.

You can also access newsgroups by clicking on a link to one from a web page. Web sites often suggest newsgroups related to a topic of discussion and include a link to them right in the page. When you click on such a link, Netscape Messenger will open to display the messages in the newsgroup you clicked on.

Here are some examples of newsgroup links:

When is the best time to plant orchids? Ask rec.gardens.orchids
Send your recipe for peanut-butter-squash surprise to rec.food.recipes
Find out the resale value of your 1985 Firebird alt.autos.camaro.

Search engines are another way to access newsgroups. Deja News is a good newsgroup search engine. If you need to, get help with understanding search engines.

Netiquette

Remember your netiquette when you participate in newsgroup discussions. Try to be polite, and remember that newsgroups attract all kinds of people. Different people have different opinions and conflicting world-views. You may be troubled or offended by some of the postings you come across in various newsgroups. Unless the newsgroup you select is moderated, people are pretty much free to post whatever they want. However, the vast majority of newsgroups are great places to visit, so enjoy your travels.