Socialize: Start Your Own

Return to the home page
FIND IT FAST
Learn the Net
The Web

HOW TO
Use the Site
Master the Basics
Surf the Web
Harness E-mail
Find Information
Download Files
Socialize
Conference
Music, Video & Photos
Web Publishing
Do E-Business
Find the Right Job
Protect Yourself
ONLINE SHOPPING
How It Works
Top Ten Tips
Discount Coupons
RESOURCES
Animated Internet
Glossary
Free Weekly Newsletter
COMPANY INFO
About Us
Partner Programs
Write Us
Privacy Policy
If you are interested in starting a newsgroup, don't try it alone the first time around. Find someone who has been through the process before. Many arcane customs and rules have sprung up around creating new newsgroups.

Let's say you are a cactus aficionado and want to start a newsgroup at rec.gardens.cactus. The process you would go through is as follows:

1A formal Request for Discussion (RFD) is posted to news.announce.newgroup and any other newsgroups related to the topic.

1Interested people will discuss the name of the group, where it should go in the hierarchy, and whether your group is really necessary. If there is no agreement on these issues at the end of 30 days, the discussion will be taken to e-mail, where the idea may eventually be killed, or the participant will come back with a new proposal and make a new Request for Discussion.

1Once the name, place, and purpose of the group are decided, a Call for Votes CFV) is posted to news.announce.newsgroups and other related groups. The voting period will be more than 20 days, but less than 30. Votes are sent via e-mail to a list moderator.

1At the end of the voting period, the results are posted to news.announce.newsgroup.

1A mandatory five day waiting period after the vote is posted allows for correction of any errors in or discussion of the vote count.

1If there are no serious objections and if there were 100 more "yes" votes than "no" votes, and if at least two-thirds of the total number of votes were "yes" votes, the group will be created, and the moderator will send out an announcement.

1If the proposal fails, a new RFD can be proposed after a six month waiting period and the whole process begins again.

Last update: Jan 6, 2006

Related Articles:

Explore More: Search the Web

Return to the home page
Learn the Net (www.learnthenet.com) is Copyright 1996-2008.
Michael Lerner Productions. All Rights Reserved.