Newsgroups

Newgroups provide a mechanism whereby mail messages are systematically made available to large groups of people. In this case the mail message is said to be "posted" to the newsgroup. It is expected that a posted message will be replied to by other readers of the newsgroup, and those replies are usually also posted to the newsgroup. Therefore, subscribers to the newsgroup can follow, and participate in if they choose, discussions that may go on for very long periods and range over many topics related to the subject matter of the newsgroup.

Newsgroups are usually organized around a particular topic, sometimes general, but often very narrowly defined. For example, there is a newsgroup called alt.guitar.bass that is devoted entirely, not just to guitars, but to the particular kind of guitar called a bass guitar!

Newsgroups may be divided into two very broad classifications: moderated and unmoderated. In the moderated newsgroups someone (the "moderator") plays the role of an editor to control what is posted to the newsgroup. In unmoderated newsgroups there is no editor, and anyone can post about anything that they want to post.

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