1. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 1 Mass Communication on the Internet Using Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, and Newsfeeds Tutorial 7

2. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 2 Objectives Learn about different types of mailing lists. Locate mailing lists on the Web. Join and leave a mailing list. Learn how to post messages to a mailing list. Retrieve and read a mailing list’s archived files.

3. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 3 Objectives Learn about Usenet newsgroups. Configure a news account using an e-mail program. Subscribe and unsubscribe to a newsgroup. Learn how to reply to and post articles to Usenet newsgroups.

4. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 4 Objectives Learn about Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Search for newsfeeds on specific topics. Search for aggregators. Learn about podcasting. Explore different sources of podcasts. Search a podcast for specific content.

5. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 5 What Is a Mailing List? A popular way of sharing information is to join, or subscribe to, a mailing list. A mailing list is a list of names and e-mail addresses for a group of people who share a common interest in a subject or topic and exchange information by subscribing to the list. Discussion groups are another name for the groups represented in a mailing list.

6. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 6 What Is a Mailing List? You send your information and opinions to a mailing list by posting (or sending) an e-mail message to the list. When you post a message to a mailing list, the e-mail list software running on the server automatically forwards your message to every e-mail address on the mailing list. The server that runs the e-mail list software is sometimes called a list server because it runs the list.

7. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 7 What Is a Mailing List? Mailing list messages: e-mail messages that express ideas or ask questions that each member of the mailing list receives. Commands: messages that request the list server to take a prescribed action. List address (list name): the address to which you send messages and replies. Administrative address: the e-mail address to which you send commands, such as the address that you use to subscribe to a list.

8. Information Flow in a Mailing List New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 7 8

9. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 9 Common Mailing List Commands

10. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 10 Moderated and Unmoderated Lists List moderator: person who moderates a mailing list to ensure that the list always receives and sends appropriate and relevant information to its members. Moderated list: a mailing list for which a list moderator is responsible for discarding any messages that are inappropriate for or irrelevant to the list’s members. Unmoderated list: a mailing list for which no one moderates the list and postings are sent to list members automatically.

11. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 11 Moderated and Unmoderated Lists Closed list:  a mailing list in which membership is not automatic.  the list administrator, a person assigned to oversee one or more mailing lists, can either reject or accept your request to become a member.  the list administrator might reject your membership request if the list has too many members or if you are not part of the group’s specified community. Most lists are open lists that automatically accept all members, in which case the list has no administrator.

12. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 12 Warnings About Mailing Lists You might receive many e-mail messages every day from the list server. If you subscribe to several mailing lists, you might find that the mail volume is more than you can read. New list members sometimes repeat questions and comments that have been previously posted in the mailing list. You should lurk when you first join a mailing list. You expose yourself to potential privacy problems because the message you send contains your name and e-mail address.

13. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 13 Warnings About Mailing Lists Consider deleting your signature from e-mail messages you post to the mailing list and using a free e-mail account address for your subscriptions. Many unmoderated mailing lists receive postings from people who discuss topics outside the scope of the list or post spam messages that contain advertisements for unrelated products and services.

14. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 14 Searching for Existing Mailing Lists The Internet provides access to thousands of mailing lists on many different topics. You can use your Web browser to search sites of mailing lists based on keywords or categories that you provide. There are several “lists of lists” sites that you can visit to start your search. Topica is a Web site that identifies and hosts mailing lists by category and name.

15. Searching for Existing Mailing Lists Topica home page New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 7 15

16. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 16 Searching for Existing Mailing Lists Different mailing-list sites store information about different lists. You can also find information about mailing lists by using an Internet search engine. When a mailing list includes a link to a Web site, it is a good idea to visit the sponsor’s Web site to learn more about the kind of information it will provide.

17. Searching for Existing Mailing Lists New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 7 17 Yahoo! search results for “Alzheimer’s mailing list”

18. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 18 Subscribing to a Mailing List There are two ways to subscribe to a mailing list:  Send an e-mail message to the list server with a request to join the list’s membership.  Visit the mailing list sponsor’s Web site and use a form to enter your name and e-mail address.

19. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 19 Subscribing to a Mailing List If you subscribe to a closed list, the list’s administrator must approve your membership. If you subscribe to an open list, your acceptance is automatic as long as you have formatted the request properly. Some mailing lists provide an option for receiving message digests, in which several postings are grouped into a single e-mail message to help reduce the number of messages you receive from the list. Some lists let you temporarily stop receiving messages and resume service at a later date (during vacations, etc.).

20. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 20 Subscribing to a Mailing List The clerical functions of a list server are automated and they respond to requests in preprogrammed ways. When you subscribe to a mailing list, the list server confirms the e-mail address you typed with the header that is included with your e-mail message. Some list servers also request your first and last names in the subscribe command so they can add your name to the membership log.

21. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 21 Subscribing to a Mailing List When you subscribe to a mailing list, be sure to check the documentation you find and follow the instructions carefully. If you submit an incorrect subscription request, the list server returns a message with information about why it could not process it. On high-volume lists, the list server might send you a confirmation message that you must return so it can confirm your e-mail address before you are officially added to the list.

22. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 22 Subscribing to a Mailing List You will receive a message confirming your membership in the list once the list server has accepted and processed your subscription request. You should keep the confirmation message in a safe place because it contains valuable information about how to leave the mailing list, special features of the list, and other list details.

23. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 23 Posting a Message to a Mailing List People interact with mailing lists by posting messages. When you post a message, the list server receives the message, sends it to the list moderator for approval (if necessary), and then forwards the message to every e-mail address on the mailing list. Messages that you post should be consistent with the list members’ interests.

24. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 24 Posting a Message to a Mailing List Create a new message in your e-mail program. Type the list address in the To field. If necessary, type Cc and Bcc address and a subject. Type your message in the message area. Make sure that your message is consistent with the list’s guidelines for submitting messages and that your question or comment is relevant. Send the message.

25. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 25 Reading a Mailing List’s Archived Files Many list servers file every message received by the list in an archive, although the list server might delete the messages periodically to recover disk space. You may send a request for the messages from a particular time frame or send a command to search the archive for messages on a particular topic. You must retrieve or locate a list of available archive filenames and data. You then request the list server to send you or display one or more of the named files.

26. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 26 Identifying a Mailing List’s Members Some mailing lists support a command that lets you receive information about the people subscribed to a mailing list. The administrator who controls the list, known as the list owner, has the option of making the mailing list members’ information available when you use the review or who command.

27. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 27 Identifying a Mailing List’s Members When you belong to a mailing list, your name and e-mail address are available and can be listed by any list member who sends the review or who command to a list server that is configured to reveal members by name and e-mail address. If you want to be a member of a LISTSERV or ListProc list, but do not want other members to have access to your name and e-mail address, you can conceal your membership from the list’s members (but not the owner).

28. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 28 Identifying a Mailing List’s Members In a LISTSERV or ListProc mailing list, create a new e-mail message, and type the list’s administrative address in the To field. Leave the Cc, Bcc, and Subject fields blank. In the message area, type the set listname conceal command if you are subscribed to a LISTSERV list, or type the set listname conceal yes command if you are subscribed to a ListProc list, replacing the list’s name for listname. If necessary, delete your signature, and then send the message. If you decide that you want your name to appear again, follow the same steps but substitute nonconceal in place of conceal in the LISTSERV command and yes in place of no in the ListProc command.

29. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 29 Leaving a Mailing List When you leave a mailing list, also referred to as dropping the mailing list or unsubscribing from the mailing list, you will stop receiving messages. You send your unsubscribe message to the list’s administrative address and include the unsubscribe (or signoff) command, followed by the list’s name. Before dropping a mailing list, check the mailing list’s confirmation message to determine the proper command to use.

30. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 30 Usenet Newsgroups Usenet was founded in 1979 at Duke University as a way of collecting information and storing that information by topic category. The topic categories on Usenet originally were called newsgroups or forums. Another popular term used is Internet Discussion Group. Each site that participates in Usenet has the option of selecting which newsgroups it will carry.

31. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 31 Usenet Newsgroups Distributed database: stored in multiple physical locations, with portions of the database replicated in different locations. Newsgroups are similar to mailing lists in that they accept messages from users and make them generally available to other users. Newsgroups store articles on a server as articles or postings that are sorted by topic.

32. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 32 Usenet Newsgroups Newsgroups are more suitable for discussions of broad topics that might interest a large audience because they do not require a list server to send a separate e-mail message to each potential article. When users read Usenet articles to which they would like to respond, they can reply to those articles. Some newsgroups have a moderator who reviews all postings before they appear in the newsgroup.

33. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 33 Usenet Newsgroups News server: the server that stores a newsgroup. The collection of news servers connected to the Internet make up Usenet. There is no central control authority. When a user posts an article to a Usenet newsgroup, it is routed to the news server designated to maintain that newsgroup.

34. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 34 Usenet Newsgroups News servers connect to other news servers periodically and compare a list of the articles that each is currently storing. Each newsgroup article has a unique identification number that makes this comparison possible. This store-and-forward process is called obtaining a newsfeed.

35. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 35 Usenet Newsgroups Each news server site employs a news administrator, who specifies which other news servers will be newsfeed providers and newsfeed recipients. Most newsfeeds occur over the Internet using the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP). Organizations that operate news servers include most ISPs, universities, large businesses, government units, and other entities connected to the Internet.

36. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 36 Usenet Newsgroups Newsgroups are organized into topical hierarchies in which each newsgroup has a unique name that shows its position and classification in the hierarchy. Top-level hierarchies are shown as the first part of a newsgroup’s name and then the subcategories follow. The names are separated by periods. The original Usenet News Service included eight main top-level categories—including one miscellaneous category.

37. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 37 Usenet Newsgroups Original Usenet news service top-level categories

38. Portion of the Hierarchical Structure of the biz Category New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 7 38

39. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 39 Web Access to Newsgroups Newsreaders: programs designed for the sole purpose of communicating with news server computers. Most e-mail programs include newsreader features. The most recent improvement in Usenet accessibility has been the increase in the number of Web sites that archive newsgroup articles. Tile.net is one of many Internet Web sites that maintains a comprehensive list of Usenet newsgroups in its databases.

40. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 40 Web Access to Newsgroups The Google Groups directory is an advertiser- supported Web site that offers many useful tools for accessing Usenet newsgroups. Google Groups does not delete newsgroup articles. Google Groups has stored over 800 million newsgroup articles dating from 1981 in its database. The Google Groups site has a search engine that allows you to query its newsgroup article database by subject, newsgroup name, or article author.

41. Web Access to Newsgroups New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 7 41 Google Groups home page

42. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 42 Using a Newsreader The Google Groups Web site includes a built- in newsreader that you can use to view articles. Outlook Express includes a built-in newsreader that you can access from Internet Explorer or by starting Outlook Express.

43. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 43 Using a Newsreader To create a news account in Outlook Express:  click Tools on the menu bar, click Accounts, and then click the News tab and use the Add button to add a news account.  If you haven’t used the newsreader, the Internet Connection Wizard might start and request your name, e- mail address, and the address of your news server  The address of the news server for your ISP is usually the word “news” or “news-server” followed by a period and your host name.

44. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 44 Using a Newsreader The Newsgroup Subscriptions dialog box lets you view all the newsgroups on your news server, only those to which you have subscribed, or new newsgroups. The tabs in the Newsgroup Subscriptions dialog box let you control which newsgroups you are viewing. You can use the Display newsgroups which contain text box in the newsgroup Subscriptions dialog box to search for a newsgroup by name.

45. Using a Newsreader New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 7 45 Newsgroup Subscriptions dialog box in Outlook Express

46. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 46 Using a Newsreader To read an article, click the message header in the message list. To reply to an article, click the message header in the message list of the article to which you would like to reply, and then click the Reply Group button to reply to the group or click the Reply button to reply privately to the author of the original article. To post a new article, click the New Post button on the toolbar to open the New Message window, where you can type a subject and the content of a new article. To send the article to the newsgroup, click the Send button.

47. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 47 Using a Newsreader To unsubscribe from a newsgroup  right-click the newsgroup[ in the Folders pane, and then click Unsubscribe on the shortcut menu  click the OK button in the confirming dialog box To delete your news account:  right-click your news account in the Folders pane, and then click Remove Account on the shortcut menu  click the Yes button in the confirming dialog box

48. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 48 Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Really Simple Syndication (RSS): an XML file format that makes it possible to share updates (such as headlines and other Web site content) via a newsfeed Newsfeed: a file containing summaries of stories and news from a Web log (blog) or Web site. RSS was designed for sharing news headlines and content. Now, RSS is also used by organizations and individuals that create and maintain blogs as a way to publish content.

49. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 49 Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Newsgroups and mailing lists are viewed as push technology, which sends content to subscribers. RSS is pull technology because subscribers “pull” content to their computers when they want to do so. To subscribe to a newsfeed, you need to install a program called an aggregator on your computer or mobile device.  The Opera Web browser and the Thunderbird e-mail client have built-in aggregator programs.  You can also download an aggregator from the Internet.

50. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 50 Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Web sites that provide newsfeeds using RSS display a small, orange or blue “RSS” icon that you can click to subscribe to the newsfeed.  If you have an aggregator on your computer, clicking the RSS icon might load the newsfeed and give you the option of subscribing to it.  Other aggregators might require you to right-click the RSS icon, copy the shortcut it contains, and then paste it into your browser’s Address bar or into the aggregator to subscribe to the newsfeed.

51. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 7 51 If you try to subscribe to an RSS newsfeed and your browser opens a page that looks like this figure, then you do not have an aggregator on your computer, or you need to follow the instructions for your specific aggregator to load the newsfeed.

52. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 52 Podcasting iPod: a very small and lightweight portable media player that first became popular because it can store and play hundreds of songs which are downloadable from the Internet at a minimal cost. When the MP3 file format became popular in the early 1990s, many people began purchasing MP3 players, which are portable devices that play MP3 files. Podcasting: lets a user subscribe to an audio feed, usually stored in the MP3 file format, and then listen to it at the user’s convenience on an MP3 device, which might include the user’s computer or a portable device such as an MP3 player.

53. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 53 Podcasting Podcast:  a subscription audio broadcast that is created and stored in a digital format on the Internet.  “podcast” is a combination of the words “iPod” and “broadcasting”  any digital audio device or computer with the necessary software can receive a podcast Podcatching software: the aggregator used for podcasts.  Most podcasting software is platform independent, meaning that it works on any MP3 compatible device.

54. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 54 Podcasting The audio feed in a podcast contains an enclosure, which is the audio file from the server, and this audio file contains the podcast. Subscribing to a podcast:  your computer will download the program automatically on the schedule you select  If you subscribe using podcatching software on your portable media player, it will download and store the radio address when you sync your device

55. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 55 Podcasting Podcasting’s original use was to make it easy for people to create and broadcast their own radio shows. Podcasts are used by the media to interview politicians and professors on specific subjects, by colleges and universities in distance learning classes, and by movie studios to promote new movie releases.

56. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 56 Summary There are resources on the Web which allow you to receive and reply to e-mail messages related to a specific topic and to find newsgroups on desired topics. You can use a newsreader to subscribe to a newsgroup, read and reply to its articles, and post a new article. You can find newsfeeds and podcasts on specific subjects and use different types of aggregators to receive RSS newsfeeds.

57. XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Fifth Edition— Comprehensive, 2005 Update Tutorial 7 57 Summary Mailing lists, newsgroups, RSS newsfeeds, and podcasts are an excellent way to gain knowledge and insight from people around the world who share your interests. You should be able to find an online community to answer your questions.