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| Chances are somebody knows the answer to your question, and it's rare for a 'posting' not to be replied to. The great thing is, replies can be either directly to you (and only you) via Email, or posted back on the noticeboard for everyone to see. In this way, quite interesting discussions build up which are often either very informative (and up-to-date) or very entertaining). Messages on UseNet are organised by subject (as opposed to having one massive noticeboard). |  |
Each subject group is called a Newsgroup. To view the contents of a group, you subscribe (remember, it's free, though!) There are literally thousands and thousands of Newsgroups covering a massive range of topics. You're sure to find the ones you want.
Personally, I use Microsoft Outlook Express to view Newsgroups, but there are many other applications which will do a fine job of your subscriptions. Above is a screenshot of Outlook Express with a Newsgroup open - uk.education.staffroom. As you can see, the contributions in the staffroom are often very light-hearted.
Think of Newsgroups as different 'rooms', each with it's own atmosphere and protocols. For example, I subscribe to 3 newsgroups:
| uk.education.misc | Miscellaneous posting about education in the UK. |
| uk.education.teachers | As above as far as I can tell. |
| uk.education.staffroom | Light-hearted humour, lots of fun, where you unwind. |
| uk.education.it | Information Technology related site. Lots of weird technical stuff! |
Posting the same message in 'uk.education.teachers' and 'uk.education.staffroom' would illicit very different responses, as the mood and tone of each 'room' is different. Be aware of this, particularly if you receive strange responses to what you thought was a serious posting (you probably wandered into the staffroom by mistake!)
Some people have some hang-ups with certain elements of Newsgroups. Being an open forum for discussion, they are susceptible to advertising (although I don't think there's much). Such advertisements, posted on the Newsgroup are known as SPAM. Spam is rarely useful, and often (some think) irritating. Personally, I don't see it as a problem - As far as I'm concerned you can either ignore it or read it. Ignoring it takes no time at all. However, if you prefer a de-spammed version of the Newsgroups, the following option is available....
A mailing list is a more controlled and monitored environment and there are important differences between them and UseNet. Whereas UseNet is viewable to the entire world, mailing lists are only capable of being seen by those who subscribe to that list. They also focus on more specific topics.
Organisations such as Microsoft use mailing lists to communicate information about their software (informative lists) whilst others create lists which bring together people with the same interests (collaborative lists). There are thousands of other topics to choose from too, so have a mooch around and see if you can find a list to suit you. Then subscribe.
