"Social ties online are not restricted to people who know each other in real life, and social contacts are no longer constrained by geographical proximity, economic class, age, educational levels, or social mores." One must exercise caution in meeting people online. It is recommended that you NEVER give out your name, address, phone number, place of work, or other information about you that would make it possible to find out who you are. Do NOT make arrangements to meet those whom you know only from the Internet.

Virtual communities are groups of individuals who have established communication over the Internet, based on a common area of interest. Some communities are public and some are private. None can guarantee absolute privacy. Currently, the best way to maintain privacy within a virtual community is to use an anonymous remailer, which is an e-mail account maintained outside of the United States. It can "protect you from other community members, investigations by U.S. law enforcement agencies, data collection on behalf of corporate interests, and the vulnerability of poorly secured servers."

Mailing Lists
Your e-mail system can be used to subscribe to an interest forum--a mailing list--where people can share information and opinions about a specific subject. Some lists are very small. Some lists are extremely large. Some lists are closed to the public and require proof of membership requirements (doctors, attorneys). All lists deal with a specific subject, such as a health subject, a specific sport, a hobby, a fan club for a t.v. show or star, etc. Those who join a list are called subscribers. When a mailing list is a moderated mailing list, then the postings that are sent to all subscribers are moderated and posted by the list administrator or list owner. Many lists are interactive mailing lists, which allow those who are subscribers to post messages that will be sent to all list subscribers; thus, the "forum," which allows individuals to exchange ideas. When a list is open and interactive, it is usually operated without administrator intervention--a computer called a server carries on the tasks of operating the list. Mailing lists generally operate on the basis of plain ASCII text (like your e-mail system).

Subscribing
Some lists can be joined via a web site, which makes joining very easy. The intended subscriber simply fills in text boxes with the requested information (name, e-mail address, etc.). The traditional method of joining a mailing list (or leaving one) is through an e-mail request. Mailing lists that are server operated require that users follow strict subscription (and unsubscribing) rules. The computer that operates the list is called a listserv. The term listserv has often been used interchangeably with mailing list. There are always two email addresses associated with mailing lists:

When you subscribe to a list, you will receive a Welcome Message. It is important that you keep this Welcome Message. It will give you instructions on how to unsubscribe, the list command address, commands available, and the list distribution address.

Some Commands
The traditional Listserv software commands include:
Subscribe LISTNAME [firstname] [lastname]
(Substitute your first name for firstname; your last name for lastname) - and delete brackets.
Unsubscribe LISTNAME or
Signoff LISTNAME

List Netiquette and Facts to Remember

• A thread is a continuing discussion about one topic between one or more people.
• Be sure that you key in your commands carefully. The list server will reject any misspelled or incorrectly keyed commands.
• Do not join more lists than you can handle.
• Make sure that your list postings are of interest to all of the subscribers to the list and keep it short. You can send an individual e-mail message to one of the subscribers who may have posted something to which you wish to respond.
• Consider automatic filtering of your list mail into a folder you have created for this list rather than clogging your Inbox.
• Consider subscribing to a digest or having your list mail sent to you as a digest subscription. A digest is a list option that sends all postings to you in one e-mail message. Check your Welcome Message to see if the list you are joining has a digest option.
• Consider turning off your list or unsubscribing to your list when you will be out of town or unable to access your email. Temporarily turning off your list is done with a Suspend command (i.e. set LISTNAME nomail). Check your Welcome Message to see if there is a suspend command and remail command. Otherwise, you will need to unsubscribe and then subscribe again when you return.
• Keep in mind that subscribers to the list can be from anywhere in the world.
• Include your full e-mail address in the message body of your list postings
• Consider spending time lurking in a mailing list until you have a feel for the community. Lurking is the practice of reading messages without posting any of your own.
• Practice courtesy and patience. Separate facts from opinions.
• Do NOT include e-mail attachments.
• Turn off any autoreply function you may have created.
• If you change your ISP, unsubscribe to the list; this is a practice of courtesy.
• Familiarize yourself with what is called Netspeak, or acronyms (i.e. LOL = Laughing out Loud; BTW = By the Way; etc.)

Web-Based Discussion Groups
You can participate in discussion groups through Message boards or Web-based mailing lists.

1. Message boards--include voting polls, opinion surveys, topical discussion boards, and product review forums. Some message boards allow the general public to view the posts. In order to allow posting, you will need to register. When participating in a public discussion group, be careful about advice given over the Internet on technical, medical, legal, investment, or financial subjects. Such advice may be correct or completely off-base and incorrect.
2. Web-based mailing lists--subscribe on the Web and give your preference to receive posts via e-mail or read on the Web; there are privacy preferences available. Can be started at Yahoo.groups or at Paml.net or Topica.com. Check out the differences and similarities between Message boards and Web-based mailing lists in Figure 7.18 on page 400.

Usenet Newsgroups
Usenet News "is the oldest collection of message boards on the Internet" Usenet News is not a network news-related Internet application. It is a series of discussion groups that continue as long as the subject area is interesting to those who post messages. The messages do not come into a user's e-mail Inbox. You can receive Usenet News postings on a subject of interest in a specified Usenet area of your Internet service area. You can also check a Web site for Usenet postings on the subject of interest. Usenet News postings are called articles. Each article contains a header like an e-mail header and a body. Usenet Newsgroups are organized into subject categories:

Newsgroup names directly relate to the topic of discussion, i.e., rec.bicycles.mountain. Usenet Newsgroups can be complicated to create. The alt groups are easier to create and can be about any topic. Newsgroups are very public. The rules of netiquette that apply to mailing lists also apply to newsgroups. Although the articles are public, they do not have a long life. As new articles appear, older ones are moved out of the listing. Usenet articles are cycled through a variety of news servers. Most newsgroups maintain FAQ files, which should be read prior to posting articles. Mailing lists are examples of push technology. Usenet users number in the millions. As new articles are posted in a group, old ones expire. Thus, the amount of activity determines the length of time that a posting will stay current.

Internet Relay Chat, Web-Based Chat, and Instant Messaging
Internet Relay Chat, Web-based chat, and Instant Messaging are popular online communication features offered by large portals, such as AOL and Yahoo. These messaging features draw users to the site that hosts the service. Messaging is a form of real-time communication. Internet Relay Chat and Instant Messaging are two separate applications, although they may look similar. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) requires connecting to an IRC server, having downloaded the IRC client, and selecting an available channel. The channels are areas of discussion. Web-based chats are live chats hosted by web sites, called "chat rooms" or "live chats." Instant messaging is an extremely popular variation of real-time chat that combines elements of IRC and Web-based chat. It is user friendly and allows individuals to have private chats between pairs of individuals. Some of the web sites that support instant messaging require users to download the messaging client software.

Warnings
"Children who use chat rooms should know not to reveal any identifying information such as name, address, telephone number, school attended, and home town." Many chat rooms are not for children and parents should monitor the use of the Internet by their children. Chat rooms and IRC can be monitored by the FBI, looking for pedophiles and child pornography operations. The SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) can also monitor these areas in an effort to find fraudulent stock market manipulations. Parents must remember that "chat rooms are the Internet venue of choice for pedophiles, stalkers, and other potentially dangerous individuals. The anonymity and fast-paced atmosphere of a chat room gives some people license to indulge aspects of their personality that normally might be suppressed. Always consider your personal safety. When it comes to online chat with strangers, expect the worst and proceed with caution."