| Feel like you need a translator to figure out newsgroups? Have no fear: we've got a
list of newsgroup terms to help you find your way. (Don't forget to check out Newsgroup
Etiquette for more newsgroup info.)
Newsgroup Terms You Should Know
| A- D | E - H | I - L | M -P | Q - T | U - Z |
(links to lower in the glossary)
add (also join and subscribe)
The act of adding a newsgroup to your personal list of newsgroups. These are the groups that you see when you start up your newsreader. See also: remove.
article (also post)
An individual message in a newsgroup. When a person sends or posts an article and
other people reply to it, it forms a thread.
BTW (By The Way)
An abbreviation for "By The Way." Other common newsgroup abbreviations
include TIA (Thanks In Advance), IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), AFAIK (As
Far As I Know), and the now-common LOL (Laughing Out Loud).
binary
A type of newsgroup article that contains encoded binary information, such as a
picture, sound, or software application. There are special groups for binary files,
such as alt.binaries.clip-art. AOL members can decode binary files automatically
using FileGrabber.
cancel, cancelbot
The act of retracting or removing one's newsgroup article. Cancelbots are programs that
cancel spam posts.
CFV
An abbreviation for Call For Votes, part of the formal process of setting up a new newsgroup.
charter
An official description of what a newsgroup is all about, whether it's moderated, and
what kinds of topics the group will discuss. For specific information about a
newsgroup, read the group's FAQ.
cross-post
To copy an article to multiple newsgroups. Cross-posting should be done sparingly,
and only when the post is relevant to the affected newsgroups. Excessive
cross-posting is a lot like spam, and is nicknamed "velveeta."
delurk
To post an article to a newsgroup for the first time. (Just like when a radio-show
caller says "Long-time listener, first-time caller.") See lurk.
Emoticon (also smiley)
Little faces made out of keyboard characters, used to express smiles :-) winks ;-)
surprise :-0 and more. (If you don't see the faces, put your left ear on your left
shoulder and look again.)
expired article
Newsgroup articles are stored for a limited time, after which they are deleted to make room for new articles. An article that has been deleted and is no longer
available has "expired." (This is why the number of articles listed frequently doesn't
always match the number of articles that show up - the other articles have expired.)
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
A list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions and other useful information for a
newsgroup. (When pronouncing, spell it out or rhyme "FAQ" with "back.") Always
read a newsgroup's FAQ before you post.
FileGrabber
Utility available to AOL members for automatic downloading and processing of
binary files, such as images, sounds, or shareware.
flame
An angry newsgroup article or e-mail that viciously attacks someone or something.
Usually written in the heat of the moment. Often starts a flamewar. Also, the act of
sending or posting a flame. A person who flames is a "flamer."
flame bait
Provocative material in an article that, intentionally or unintentionally, will make
people angry and invite flames in response. See trolling.
flame war
A argument or fight that takes place in newsgroup articles or e-mail. Flamewars
involve lots of name-calling, nasty insults, and "YELLING."
follow up (also reply)
To respond to an article by posting a response to the newsgroup. See quoting.
header
Part of a newsgroup article or e-mail message that contains information needed by
the computers that handled it. Hard-to-read but informative,the message ID, date, and time.
hierarchy
The categories of newsgroups. The main categories are: comp. (computer topics),
misc. (miscellaneous), news. (newsgroup-related stuff), rec. (recreation), sci.
(science), soc. (society), talk. (discussion), and alt. (alternative). Hierarchies are
arranged so they get more specific as you work your way down. For example:
rec.* (recreation groups -- the "*" means "include everything under this")
rec.collecting.* (recreation groups about collecting)
rec.collecting.sport.* (recreation groups about sports collecting)
rec.collecting.sport.football (a recreation group about sports collecting, specifically football)
Note that rec.collecting.sport.* would also include sports collecting groups about
baseball, hockey, etc.
There are also special, regional, and local hierarchies that may not be available to all
people.
kill file
A file used by some newsreaders to reject unwanted articles. A kill file will reject
posts containing words, authors, or subjects that you don't want to see. Also
known as a "bozo filter." (Some newsgroup users signify adding an article or thread
to their killfile by replying with the word "*plonk*.")
list unread
A newsreader command that allows you to see only the messages that you haven't read
before in a given newsgroup.
list all
A newsreader command that shows you all the messages in a newsgroup, including
messages you have already read (as long as they haven't expired).
lurk
To read articles in a newsgroup without posting any of your own. Always lurk a
while before posting, to get a feel for the newsgroup. A person who lurks is a
"lurker." See delurk.
mark read (also catch up)
A newsreader command that marks all the articles in a newsgroup as having been
read. Do this after you've read the interesting posts in a newsgroup and only want to
see new posts the next time you visit.
MMF
An abbreviation for MAKE MONEY FAST; also the generic name for any of the
useless, futile, and often illegal pyramid schemes that promise to "make $5 into $50,000"
or "GET RICH QUICK" by spamming newsgroups. They don't work, they're
annoying, they're illegal, and people will flame you, so don't ever do it. Posting
MMF-type posts is very bad netiquette.
moderated newsgroup
A newsgroup where all posts must be approved before they can be seen by all. The
people who do the filtering are known as moderators. Moderated newsgroups
typically have a lot of information, and very little spam or garbage. See
signal-to-noise ratio.
Netiquette
Network etiquette. Since there are no Internet Police, a set of rules and guidelines
on acceptable behavior has developed organically. Netiquette includes things like not
spamming, learning to lurk before posting, and more. Learn netiquette and you won't get
flamed.
newbie
A beginner. All experts were newbies once.
news
Another name for newsgroups. Also "Netnews," "USENET," or "Usenet."
newsgroup (also group)
An Internet discussion forum, such as rec.pets.cats or alt.internet.services. All
together, the thousands of newsgroups form a global bulletin board where people
talk about every topic imaginable. Newsgroups are where you post articles. Use AOL NetFind Newsgroup Finder to find
the newsgroups that match your interests.
newsreader
The software you use to access newsgroups. A newsreader lets you read articles, respond to them, and post your own.
periodic posting
A newsgroup article that is posted to a group or groups at regular intervals. An
example of a periodic posting would be a FAQ (list of Frequently Asked Questions)
or other helpful information.
post
A newsgroup article. Also, the act of sending an article to a newsgroup so that
others can read and reply to it.
quote
To include part of a previous post when you follow up to it. Quoting is a good idea
because it lets people know what you're talking about. Quoted material often is
preceded by ">" and looks like:
> This is an example of quoted material. Here is some more
> quoted material, to let people know what you are replying to.
This would be where your new comments would begin.
remove
The newsgroup command to unsubscribe from a newsgroup.
reply
A newsgroup article that is posted to the newsgroup as a response to another post.
It's usually a good idea to quote from the article you're replying to so people know
what you're talking about. When replying, avoid posting simply "me too" or "I
agree."
Request for Discussion (RFD)
An official posting to news.groups that asks for comments and opinions regarding
the proposal to create a new newsgroup. Part of the formal newsgroup creation
process.
signal-to-noise ratio
An electronics term used to compare the amount of good, useful info ("signal") in a
newsgroup with the amount of bad, useless junk ("noise"). Newsgroups that have
lots of flame wars and spam have a low signal-to-noise ratio.
signature (also sig)
Text added to the bottom of an article or e-mail to give the reader more information
about the poster. Signatures can include e-mail and Web addresses, quotes, text
art, and more, though signatures should not be longer than 4 or 5 lines.
spam
An article that is sent to hundreds or thousands of different newsgroups, and has
nothing to do with any of them. Often advertisements or "MAKE MONEY
FAST"-type chain letters. Very annoying and a very bad violation of netiquette. The
act of sending spam is "spamming." Someone who sends spam is a "spammer." The
term "spam" comes from the Monty Python sketch where the name of the canned
meat product is used so often that it crowds everything else out.
spoiler
Information that may diminish the enjoyment someone else gets from a book, movie,
tv show, etc. Example: Posting "Wow! Darth Vader is Luke's father!!!" in a current
movies newsgroup may spoil someone who hasn't seen The Empire Strikes Back.
Be nice: Use warnings (like adding "SPOILER: Empire Strikes Back" to the subject
line) and add spoiler space (blank lines before spoiler information) to posts that
may contain spoilers.
subscribe
To add a newsgroup to the list of groups you want to read. If you subscribe to a
group, that newsgroup will appear every time you open your newsreader. See
unsubscribe.
test
A test message, usually posted by newbies. Test messages should only be sent to
newsgroups specifically designed for this purpose, such as misc.test. Warning: put
"Ignore" in your test message's subject or body, unless you want lots of
automatically generated response mail.
thread
A thread is an ongoing discussion of related messages that grows from one
particular posting.
troll
A purposely stupid, inflammatory, or downright wrong article (closely related to
flamebait). Its purpose is to get people mad and make them look stupid and gullible
unsubscribe
To remove a newsgroup from your newsreader's active list. If you unsubscribe, you
will no longer see the newsgroup when you open your newsreader. You can always
subscribe again.
Usenet (also USENET)
The full name of newsgroups is "Usenet Newsgroups." |
