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News Views |  |
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One of the most attractive aspects of the Internet is it lets you exchange ideas and information with lots of people from all over the world. Many hobby and professional groups have formed, drawing membership from around the world, a very attractive set of communities. Generally there is no additional cost to this activity beyond paying for your basic Internet access. However, there are good reasons to not tell complete strangers many kinds of personal information. This activity will discuss the current primary means of having Internet conversations with people, how to use these systems, and things to avoid. |
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Easy, frequent access to a computer that can connect to the Internet. You will also need a service that provides you e-mail capability, and a program that runs on your local computer that can connect with this e-mail service to send and receive e-mail. Note that both Netscape's "Navigator" Web browser and Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" Web browser include such capability. Optionally, a service that provides you with access to Internet "News Groups", and a program that runs on your local computer that can connect with this News server to read and write articles are needed. Note that both Netscape's "Navigator" Web browser and Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" Web browser include such capability. Optionally, a "chat client" program that allows you to connect with live sessions in which people are communicating via Internet Relay Chat (IRC, or just "Chat") is necessary. |
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Internet News: Thousands of "news groups", each specific to one topic, are established across a network of computers called "news hosts". These machines store copies of all the posted articles. Also, these machines talk among themselves; and, if one machine is missing a recent posting, the other machines send it a copy. Within a couple days, an article posted to one news host gets copied onto thousands of news hosts around the world. Your Internet service provider should tell you how to connect to your local news host. To get started, connect to your news host, and then look at the list of all the publicly visible news groups on that host. Not all news hosts carry all news groups; some are left out because no customer is interested, others are left out because they contain potentially offensive material, and others are left out because they're so new the operator hasn't heard of them. Go down the list of news groups and "subscribe" to any that look interesting to you. There are very many on travel (each specific to a destination country), hobbies, music (by instrument, or by performer), computer stuff, and the like. Show this list of subscriptions to your parents or guardians for approval. Now, open any one of the news groups you've subscribed to. You'll probably see a large number of articles and notes, written over the last several days. You can read through as many of these as you'd like. It's generally considered good Internet manners to read before posting (writing to the group), so that you see if your question has already been answered. This way, you don't waste everybody's time. Remember, this news group is probably distributed worldwide. Sometimes you'll see articles or inquiries in which the author wants to be contacted directly (e.g., someone requests "a recipe for German Chocolate Cake without coconut" and you happen to have one to offer). Use e-mail for that (send a message directly to the person who made the request), and avoid posting articles the whole world isn't interested in reading. Eventually, you'll feel enough at home with some of these news groups that you want to write and post your own articles or queries. That's perfectly acceptable; this is what the groups are for. But, as a courtesy to all: (1) proofread your article before you post it to the world; (2) don't be hostile or abusive in your language, intentionally or unintentionally; and (3) only post articles along the theme of that group. If you decide a group is not for you, you can "unsubscribe" using the method by which you subscribed in the first place. Listservs: Distributed e-mail communities also can be hosted on a "listserv," an e-mail server that forwards copies of e-mails to a list of people. Someone in the group has to set up a listserv server and to establish an e-mail account for that. Then, the membership of the group is entered into the server. Whenever an e- mail message is received addressed to that group, the listserv server takes it and transmits it to everybody on the list. The members of the list only need their e-mail software to use the list. Listservs allow organized groups to readily communicate among themselves, but they're not intended for huge numbers of simultaneous users. Unlike news groups, in which the postings remain on the server until you read them, listservs send you e-mail for every posting. Usually, lists will accept others who are interested enough to request membership. But, some may be privately run. If you find a listserv with a topic of interest to you (e.g., they may announce themselves to a news group, or on a Web page), you can request a subscription. The instructions for how to subscribe vary between the kinds of listserv software being used, so you should follow the stated instructions. You should not e-mail to the group's account as the listserv server will send your message to everyone on the list. Typically, subscribing a group called "chocolate@mail.chocolate.org" is no harder than writing an e-mail, addressed to "chocolate-request@mail.chocolate.org", having the word "subscribe" in the subject line, and not having a body at all. The listserv gets your e-mail address from the letter's header, so you don't need to retype it. You'll usually be sent a confirming message, via e-mail. If so, you should keep this message as it will generally tell you how to do useful things like find out who else is on the list, or how to unsubscribe. Note: Some of these listserve, on hot topics, generate thousands of e-mails a week. Simply unsubscribe if they're too much for you to take. Chat Rooms: Another form of typed communication is via the "chat room". Here, unlike e-mail and news groups, the people communicating are connected at the same time. A server machine retransmits every line you type to everyone else, without waiting for you to finish a complete e-mail letter. In practice, you use chat rooms more like a telephone, with many short exchanges back and forth. Lengthy or detailed communication is best done via e-mail, if for no other reason than that it can be retained for future reference. To use a chat room, you'll need a "chat client" program. These come in many forms. Your Internet Service Provider may give you one. Or, some chats are accessed via Web browsers, or you may find client software available for free download at the Web page that advertises the chat you want to join. Chat software generally provides ways for you to filter out things you don't want to receive, such as messages from somebody who keeps advertising "MAKE BIG MONEY AT HOME IN YOUR SPARE TIME". |
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Discuss your experiences using these types of communications systems. What did you particularly enjoy, and what was uncomfortable? Which mechanisms "fit" the kind of discussion they were used for and which did not? Discuss which of these systems could be used by other groups you know of to help people communicate better. Consider uses by hobbyists and others sharing common interests, informal groups of friends, people working on committees for social or civic or business reasons, town governments, mutual support groups (e.g., smoking cessation plans, Alcoholics Anonymous, Parents Without Partners) and information groups (e.g., American Cancer Society, Illinois Cooperative Extension Service). Discuss if sufficient privacy is provided by these mechanisms, or how that might be improved. |
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Work with someone who can create a local news host, with your own local news groups, for the benefit of a group like you discussed. Help the group get started, and watch to see if this new form of communication really helps them. Work with someone who can create a listserv, for the benefit of a group like you discussed. Help the group get started, and watch to see if this new form of communication really helps them. |
| Data Bank |
The list below are "My Rules for Online Safety" taken from the 4-H Chat page. Please read through them before participating in a newsgroup discussion.
Additionally, never tell anyone your last name or e-mail address while you are on- line in a chat room. Here are some other sites you can visit to find out about chat sessions that might be of interest to you:
Books:
URL's:
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Activity: Participate in an internet discussion group Skill level: Intermediate Project skill: Communicate on the internet Life skill: Communication |
Date completed: Helper's initials: |
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Adapted from material developed by Illinois 4-H. Used by permission. For
IFAS-related questions or information, please contact IFAS External Relations.
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