DISCUSSION GROUPS
Discussion groups are Internet bulletin boards where people post and respond to
messages about specific topics. Discussion groups are public forums—anyone can
read and respond to the posted message.
JOINING A DISCUSSION GROUP
Before you can read or post messages in a discussion group, you have to join
the group.
To join a discussion group:
1
From Web Home, select
Community
from the top of the screen, then
press or
RETURN
.
2
Select
Discuss
, then press
or
RETURN
.
3
Select a discussion group from the featured list, then press
or
RETURN
(or
search for a discussion on a specific topic using the
Look for
box at the bottom
of the screen).
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ONLINE CONVERSATION
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continued
DISCUSSION GROUPS AND CHAT ROOMS
While chat rooms and discussion groups are both ways to use the Internet to
contact people, they are different in important ways.
Here is an explanation of each communication tool:
Discussion groups:
public Internet forums where people post messages about a
specific topic.
Discussion groups are like bulletin boards in that you post messages for people to
read and respond to at their convenience. Anyone on the Internet can join a
discussion group, read the postings, and leave a response. Discussion groups are
good places to go if you have a question about a product, a hobby, anything you
need help with. Just find a discussion group about your topic, post a question, and
check back a little later to see if anyone out there has posted an answer for you.
Chat rooms:
public places on the Internet where groups of people type messages
to each other.
Chat rooms and Discussion groups are alike in that they are public forums where
people exchange messages about specific topics. Unlike Discussion groups, Chat
rooms are “live.” That is, people who are online at the same time read and
respond to each other’s messages immediately.
To see Discussion groups or Chat rooms, go to the Community page: from Web
Home, select
Community
(top of page), then press
or
RETURN
.
ONLINE CONVERSATION
