Usenet. What is it? Somebody else's opinion.
Usenet is a great place for engaging in stimulating conversation about topics you are interested in. Usenet is divided into newsgroups, which are roughly analogous to bulletin boards, mounted on a wall - anybody can put messages up, and anybody else can read them. Each newsgroup has a topic, and the messages posted to that newsgroup should reflect that topic. This is only logical - if you want to read Star Trek fan fiction, you would look in alt.startrek.creative , not comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic . Usenet, when used properly, can be a great place.
Unfortunately, like a public bulletin board, there is seldom somebody standing around to defend the bulletin board from abuse. People can (and do) rip down other people's messages as often as they want. People can (and do) post scathing replies, filled with profanity, for no apparent reason. People can (and do) even remove newsgroups entirely, against the will of the residents of those newsgroups. People can (and do) post many, many messages to newsgroups that do not follow the stated topic of that newsgroup.
Actions like this are known as net abuse. There are people in Usenet who are concerned about some kinds of net abuse, and who attempt to keep it from happening. These people go by many names, not all of them good. Some call them netcops. Some call them net scum . But people who attempt to enforce net etiquette are not bad; in fact, the people who label them net scum are some of the worst net abusers around. They couch their language in terms of free speech and press, but their actions speak louder than their words.
Which newsgroups do I spend the most time in?
rec.games.mecha
alt.startrek.creative
news.admin.net-abuse.usenet
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