ABSTRACT
Email and Usenet news are two popular uses of the Internet. In fact, email is the most popular, and both show some of the unique features of communication on the Internet. With no difference in effort, one person can send a message to one or thousands of people, and one person can receive information on a topic or an answer to a question from anywhere on the Internet. People have been using email since the beginning of the Internet, and those with common interests have formed email discussion groups—also called interest groups, mailing lists , or listservs —based on specific topics. Usenet , which originated independently of the Internet, is a system for exchanging messages called articles arranged according to specific categories called newsgroups . The articles or messages are passed from one system to another, not as email between individuals. Group discussions take place as individuals compose and post messages, answer questions, and respond to other people’s statements.
