With over a half billion people online worldwide and growing by more than one hundred million annually, the Internet is a great place to congregate and discuss hobbies, politics, sports and more. Are you interested in Model A Ford restoration, raising cockatoos, RV traveling, cross breeding tulips, or programming Access? These and thousands of other topics are freely available for discussion on the Internet.
In the beginning, there were newsgroups. Now, email discussion groups are more popular and easier to participate and benefit from. Email discussion groups bring together people of like interests for discussion, information sharing and Internet camaraderie.
For example, I recently purchased a new VW Eurovan (my favorite car to date) and had some questions about tips and tricks on best taking care of and utilizing it. I searched for and joined a Eurovan discussion group (800 members strong) and posted questions via email to the group. The group gladly posted practical answers from their experience. I also belong to an email discussion group for my Handspring Treo.
One of the best places to start is Yahoo Groups. You can search for a topic or browse through their categories for your particular area of interest. When you find one that looks interesting, you can join it following the instructions on the page. You need to be a member of Yahoo (free) to join the groups. As a member, you can join with any email address, but I recommend using the free email account that comes along with Yahoo membership to receive your group email.
You can join as many groups as you like and leave groups at any time. You will love the great information you receive, and it’s rewarding to share information that you have for others. Give it a try and call me on the show if you have any questions about discussion groups.
