There are nearly 40,000 Usenet newsgroups, which are bulletin-board style forums about every conceivable topic. Usage of newsgroups has declined in recent years as blogs and niche Web sites have gained readers. Although some Usenet groups have become riddled with spam and irrelevant messages, some useful, widely read groups remain.
A few years ago, special software was required to view or post to Usenet discussions. This is no longer necessary; Google now hosts these groups on an easy-to-use Web interface, calling them Google Groups, at:
#www.Groups.Google.com#
To find groups in your topic, type some terms into the search box at the top of the Google Groups page. You can also browse the list of group categories.
Most newsgroups are unmoderated, and you can post messages immediately. Other newsgroups are moderated, and require posters to e-mail their message to a moderator for approval. Moderated newsgroups have charters outlining prescribed conduct and whether any commercial-related messages are permitted.
When you submit a post to a moderated group, the moderator must first approve your message before it appears on Google Groups and the rest of Usenet. If you post the same message in multiple groups and one of the groups is moderated, the message will be sent only to the moderator of the moderated group. Then the moderator will decide if your post should be approved to appear on all the groups.