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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]
