Giganews Usenet University

« 3. Using Newsgroups »

Notes About Newsgroup Etiquette

The Usenet community has existed for two decades, and in that time specific guidelines for interacting with other users have been developed. Many of these guidelines can be applied to other forms of online communication, and collectively they are known as "netiquette" (network etiquette).

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Most popular newsgroups have a FAQ document that is posted regularly for new readers. FAQs contain guidelines for what the newsgroup members consider on- and off-topic content, abbreviations and acronyms specific to the newsgroup, and naturally, answer common questions that newsgroup members have encountered. Becoming familiar with a newsgroup's FAQ is the best way to start off as a valued newsgroup member.

Lurking

Lurking is a period spent simply reading articles in a newsgroup without posting. This is a very good way to learn the specific ground rules, tone and attitude of a particular newsgroup. Along with reading the FAQ, lurking for at least a few days is advisable for every newsgroup you join.

Bottom Posting

Bottom posting refers to keeping the original text of the article (or a small snippet of a long article) above your response to give other readers context for the discussion. Bottom posting is the standard for Usenet discussions. Not all newsreaders group articles and their replies together, making this a preferred posting style.

Bottom Posting Example

Inline Posting

Inline posting refers to placing your response between lines of the original post. Inline posting is acceptable in certain situations on Usenet. The prime example is when replying to a long article. Remember to retain only enough of the original post to give your response context.

Inline Posting Example

Top Posting

Top posting means to put your response above the original text. This is the standard behavior of many email clients and has spilled over to newsgroup discussions in turn. However, top posting is considered very poor netiquette in many newsgroups. It may be acceptable when replying to very short posts, but you should generally always use an inline or bottom posting style.

Top Posting Example

« 3. Using Newsgroups »

RSS Recent News

Older News

Members Say

I wanted to add my 2 cents in as well. Giganews has been a fantastic value for the money to me for the past couple of years I've been using it! Thanks for the great services guys (and gals)!
John