Newsgroups, she said, attract people with the same interests and values. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they always agree with the topics being discussed. She mentioned that in terms of disagreements, especially hot topics like abortion or gun control, more people respond to the postings. The replies tend to get more personal when the topics are more likely about moral issues. She also added that in her three weeks of experience with newsgroups, she became more serious and posted messages with a more important content.
She also shares her experience when she participated in the newsgroup. At first, she said she was just lurking around until she found something that interest her. Then, she started posting messages. She said that she often post messages to topics that talk about serious things and which she also had a stronger opinion, as well. She also mentioned that she began to get to know people and people began to recognize her, she was not a visitor anymore but a member of those newsgroups.
All I can say about Ms. Francis' report is that it's very informative especially about her feelings when she joined the newsgroups she picked. I also notice that she learned a lot about newsgroups as I did when I was doing my newsgroups report. Although, unlike her, I didn't join or subscribe to any newsgroups because I was just looking for articles or postings that I can use in my report. I believe, I am still hesitant to join any newsgroups and post messages. Human relationships to me, whether it be online or physically, is somehow the same in the sense that even if people can't see you, you don't want people judging you on what you write about. I think that's human nature, we always think about what others might say and not about how you feel you should look like and think. This only implies that the future of our society will still be about how others would think about you and would say about you, even with the internet around. People might not be able to see you, but they can read what you write about and still can judge you for what you say. I don't know if things will change for the better with all the new technologies we will soon have, but I'm hopeful.
