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Usenet is one of the oldest computer network communications systems still in widespread use; it existed before the popularization of the Internet and well before the World Wide Web. Today, almost all Usenet traffic is carried over the Internet. The format and transmission of Usenet articles is very similar to that of Internet email messages. However, whereas email is usually used for one-to-one communication, Usenet is a many-to-many medium.



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ISPs, News Servers, and Newsfeeds Most Internet service providers, and many other Internet sites, operate news servers for their users to access. To read news, one must use newsreader software -- a program which resembles an email client (and is often integrated with one) but accesses Usenet instead.


For those who have access to the Internet, but do not have access to a news server, Google Groups[?] allows reading and posting of news via the World Wide Web. Though this or other "news-to-Web gateways" are not always as easy to use as specialized newsreader software -- especially when threads get long -- they are often much easier to search.

There are also Usenet providers which specialize in offering service to users whose ISPs do not carry news, or which carry a restricted feed. One list of such providers is available at http://www.exit109.com/~jeremy/news/providers/providers . There is even a newsgroup for the discussion of news providers specialized in the binary newsgroups -- alt.binaries.news-server-comparison.


Internet Jargon and History Many terms now in common use on the Internet -- so-called "jargon" -- originated or were popularized on Usenet. Likewise, many conflicts which later spread to the rest of the Internet, such as the ongoing difficulties over spamming, began on Usenet.




(The Great Renaming should be discussed here!)


Internet archiving of Usenet posts began at DejaNews[?] with a very large, searchable database. In 2001, this database was acquired by the Google search engine.

See also: List of newsgroups, Newsservers, Scorefile

Sociological Implications

The architecture of Usenet is sometimes characterized as anarchic or as civic/democratic. Some see it as global community[?] or collection of online communities. While the views varies, one shared perspective among the users is Usenet as an alternative medium[?] to institutionalized mass communication, more open to participation from a wider variety of the general public[?].

Usenet can be a tool boosting an individual's ability to communicate, free from governmental and other organizational restrains. Six major features that stand out are:

  1. First, in its origin, Usenet was the alternative to ARPANET (the precursor of the today's Internet), created by those who could not join ARPANET. (It is not true today.)
  2. Second, Usenet is open to a variety of users. It does not require user registration[?], institutional affiliation[?], or a specific fee like other communication systems. Users, with proper knowledge, can post their own message as well. The system does not require any identification[?], either accepting pseudonyms.
  3. Third, the content is not censored very much. Much of the process of receiving, posting, and circulating messages is automated, and the sheer number of messages makes censorhip effort very difficult, except for categorical banning of potentially problematic newsgroups or the entire Usenet.
  4. Fourth, creation of new newsgroups is possible for anybody with proper knowledge in certain part of Usenet, namely within the alt hierarchy.
  6. Finally, the structure of the network is somewhat anti-hierarchical, one might argue. There is no center in which all article go through. Various news servers are connected with each other and the circulation of the articles are done in a way close to a bucket-relay[?]. There is no essential set of newsgroups that a news server must carry. Some newsgroups are locally maintained. Consequently, it is very hard, if not utterly impossible, to construct a complete list of newsgroups in a given moment, let alone postings in a given week.

To some, these features are indications of how our society could become, or would likely become, when interactive information networks such as Usenet and the Internet becomes the dominant means of communication.

It is perhaps helpful to point out these analogies of the social aspect of Usenet are not necessarily compatible with each other. While anarchism tends to emphasize individual freedom and the 'anything goes' principle, community values mutual ties and corporation. Democracy usually requires a binding collective decision, running counter to anarchic principle. The correct interpretation is not clear even among those who study it.


Communication on Usenet may be perceived by some (critics or users) as not very constructive, or worse yet, undesirable. It is frequently excessively aggressive, as some people engage in flame wars. The discussion might seem unproductive, with endless disputes. It may contain offensive languages[?] and very objectionable opinions on sensitive issues related to racism, gender roles, etc. The non-offensive messages might be or "spams," or unsolicited off-topic postings such as advertisements for pornography sites. A group may be flooded with messages by a very limited number of participants, being not very open and friendly to newcomers. In addition, the most active part of the Usenet include exchange of pornographic files (especially pictures) and music files (especially in MP3 format).

In addition, the said freedom in the alt hierarchy is limited in that unless a newly created newsgroup meets certain conditions and goes through certain procedures, it will not be carried by many news servers, potentially resulting in a wasted effort. In general, the seemingly anarchic system is indeed not without some administrative-level controls. The bucket-relay like structure of the network is even more limited because of the existence of the so-called Big Seven[?], the major carriers of news groups to which many smaller-scale news servers connect. These carriers exert influence on newsgroups' birth and survival as well.


The more general criticisms that apply to Usenet and many other kinds of online communication include the statement that usenet is mostly a text-based medium, empowering the literate and articulate, while being less accessible to others.

Related Topics

Usenet Terms

Usenet History

Usenet People

External Links

Credit This article is partly based on the infoAnarchy wiki.


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