Newsgroup:
Newsgroup is an online discussion group, posted
from many users at different locations. It is something similar
to a forum
. The only difference is of
technical nature as Newsgroups are part of the Usenet, not the
World Wide Web. That means that newsgroups cannot be accessed
with a Internet browser. Only with a special newsreader, a
newsgroup can be read and posted to.
Today there are thousands and thousands
of newsgroups covering literally every topic under the sun. For
easier accessibility they were originally organized in 7 major
categories, called hierarchies. There are newsgroups on the
subject of science (abbreviated
sci. at the beginning of the full newsgroup
designation), social issues (soc.), religion and politics
(talk.), hobbies (rec. for recreation
), computer
(comp.), the Usenet itself
(news.) and miscellaneous issues
(misc.).
There
are subcategories as well.
Later there was an additional
alt
.
hierarchy created as well to allow the discussion of subjects
with rather disreputable character such as sex and drugs.
[News
comes from
Latin nova/novum
=
new; Group
is of Germanic
origin]
|