Using the Internet to Communicate

One of the greatest advantages of the Internet is the ability to communicate with people all across the planet. E-mail is the most common form of communication, but there many other options:

• Mailing lists: When you subscribe to a mailing list (also called list-serves for the type of server that manages them), you join a group of people with similar interests. By sending an e-mail message to the list, you are actually sending a message to everyone on the list at one time. At the same time, you automatically receive every e-mail sent by others to the list.
• Newsgroups: Newsgroups are special areas where people can read and respond to messages through a news reader program (often part of an e-mail program or your browser). These messages are "posted" to the newsgroup (sometimes called a bulletin board) directly, without going through e-mail.
• Chats: Chat rooms are Web sites where you can join a discussion with several people at once. Like mailing lists and newsgroups, the conversation is conducted by typing. However, in chat rooms, the conversation is live.
• Instant messaging: Instant messaging (IM) allows two people on the same service to send messages to each other that instantly appear on the other person's computer. A typed conversation can continue - just like having a telephone conversation.