Newsgroup

A newsgroup is a repository, usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. The term is somewhat confusing, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on the World Wide Web. Newsreader software is used to read newsgroups.

How newsgroups work

Newsgroup servers are hosted by various organizations and institutions. Most Internet Service Providers host their own News Server, or rent access to one, for their subscribers. There are also a number of companies who sell access to premium news servers.

Related Topics:
Internet Service Providers - News Server

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Every host of a news server maintains agreements with other news servers to regularly synchronize. In this way news servers form a network. When a user posts to one news server, the message is stored locally. That server then shares the message with the servers that are connected to it if both carry the newsgroup, and from those servers to servers that they are connected to, and so on. For newsgroups that are not widely carried, sometimes a carrier group is used as a crosspost to aide distribution. This is typically only useful for groups that have been removed or newer alt.* groups. Crossposts between hierarchies, outside of the big eight and alt, are prone to failure.

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