Newsgroup Tutorial

TECHNOLOGY ASSIGNMENT #2

Usenet Newsgroup Analysis

Your assignment is to look at the postings that collect on a Usenet newsgroup over the course of a weekend and to examine the general tone and content of the various discussions that are going on there. You should have subscribed to several different newsgroups already (if you have not done so yet, do it!) so that you a good chance of getting a group that is active enough to fulfill this assignment.

To fulfill the assignment, you will need to read the postings made to your newsgroup (try it at some point Sunday afternoon or evening, to make sure that enough have accumulated since you subscribed) and make some general observations along the following lines.

How would you describe the "personalities" that post to the newsgroup you've chosen (obviously, you'll need to tell me what newsgroup it is)?
How do the posters to the newsgroup transmit this "personality" to you?
Do newsgroup posts seem more like writing or oral communication to you? Why? Give examples from posts you read to back up your claim.
Discuss the characteristics of the language used in the postings on your newsgroup. What sort of chocies were seemingly made regarding decorum (i.e., how polite were the posters to each other, how willing were they to accept each other's ideas)? Did they use very proper writing styles or were they informal? Did they attempt to persuade each other using any of the appeals we discussed in class (logos, ethos and pathos)? If so, which did they seem to use most. Again, give examples.

This paper should be about 2 pages long (at least a page and a half). You don't need to provide any introduction or overall thesis, just answer the questions and provide some evidence to support what you say.

It is due Monday, October 5, at the start of class.