Mass Communication on the Internet

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Mass Communication on the Internet

• Using Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, and Newsfeeds

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Mailing Lists (1)

• E-mail can also be used to access and share
  information on a wide variety of topics
• Mailing lists lists of names and e-mail
  addresses for a group of people that share a
  common interest in a subject or topic

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Mailing Lists (2)

• Names and addresses of subscribers are maintained
  on a list server not on ones personal computer
• Most common e-mail list software LISTSERVE
  ListProc, Majordomo
• One can subscribe to a mailing list, either by
  using specific commands sent by e-mail or via a
  Web page

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Mailing Lists (3)

• Commands request the list server to perform
  some action e-mail sent to administrative
  address (not forwarded to other list members)
• Messages e-mail messages expressing ideas or
  asking questions that are sent to the list
  address (forwarded to each list member)

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Common Mailing List Commands
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Mailing Lists Types of Lists

• Closed List membership is not automatic one
  must apply (overseen by list administrator)
• Open List membership that automatically accept
  all members
• Moderated list person moderating mailing list
  to ensure list always receives and sends
  appropriate and relevant information
• Unmoderated list not moderated by a person
  postings are sent to all members automatically
  (most lists are unmoderated)

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Mailing Lists Shortcomings

• Potential to receive many e-mail messages daily
• New members repeat questions and comments
  previously mentioned (best to lurk and read FAQ
  list first)
• May want to delete signature section of email
  (name/address/phone numbers)
• May want to protect privacy by using alternate
  e-mail address (free Web address)
• Unmoderated lists may vary from subject, contain
  advertisements, be offensive, etc.

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Searching for Existing Mailing Lists

• Internet has thousands of mailing lists covering
  all topics (list of list sites)
• Topica
• Yahoo! (Groups)
• Using search engine
• Search expression mailing list

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Subscribing to/Leaving a Mailing List

• Method One send e-mail message to list server
  address with a request to join/leave the lists
  membership
• Method Two visit mailing list sponsors Web site
  and use a form to input your name and e-mail
  address to join/leave
• Message digests option with some mailing lists
  in which several postings are grouped into one
  single e-mail message to reduce the number of
  messages received from the list

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Posting a Message to Mailing List

• List server receives message, sends it to the
  list moderator for approval (if applicable), then
  forwards it to every e-mail address on the
  mailing list
• Be sure to send to lists list address, not the
  lists administrative address
• Clicking the Reply button on a message received
  will respond to the list server, which will
  forward the message to each of the mailing list
  subscribers
• If you want to respond to messages sender, copy
  senders address from message, then paste in the
  To field

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Archived Files/Identifying Mailing Lists Members

• Archive past messages stored by a mailing
  lists
• Send request for messages to list server
• Obtain link to Web page that contains mailing
  lists archive files (view download)
• May be able to send command to retrieve
  information about mailing list subscribers
• May be able to conceal your membership on certain
  e-mail list software

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Usenet Newsgroups (1)

• Usenet News Service (Usenet) an information
  resource on the Internet originally founded to
  collect and store information by topic category
• News Servers store information collection of
  news servers connected to the Internet makes up
  UseNet
• Distributed database information is stored in
  multiple physical locations no one location
  contains a complete copy of the database
• Topic categories - called newsgroups, forums, or
  Internet discussion groups

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Usenet Newsgroups (2)

• Users connect to network and read posted
  newsgroup articles no e-mails are sent to
  subscribers
• More suitable for broad topics that might
  interest a large audience
• Users can respond to Usenet articles
• Some newsgroups have a moderator who reviews all
  postings before they appear in the newsgroups

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Usenet Newsgroups (3)

• Periodically, news servers connect to other
  selected news servers and compare lists of
  articles that each stores
• After comparison, each news server obtains copies
  of the articles it does not have - this
  store-and-forward process is called obtaining a
  newsfeed
• News administrator chooses which news servers
  will be newsfeed providers and newsfeed
  recipients also chooses which news groups to
  carry also responsible for setting the deletion
  schedule
• Newsgroups can be very large, so storage space
  can be a constraint
• Commonly used by ISPs, universities, large
  businesses, government units, etc.

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Usenet Newsgroups (4)

• Newsgroups are organized into topical hierarchies
• Name consists of top-level hierarchy followed by
  subcategories that further refine classification
  separate by periods, (e.g. sci.chem.organic)
• Hierarchical structure helps but searching may be
  difficult due to size of Usenet
• Several businesses have developed tools for
  searching newsgroups

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Web Access to Newsgroups

• Newsreaders original software programs designed
  to communicate with news servers
• Most e-mail programs include newsreader features
  (e.g. Outlook Express)
• Now, there are increased numbers of Web sites
  that archive newsgroup articles (offer search
  engines also)
• Tile.net
• Google Groups
• Has not deleted newsgroup articles since
  inception (1981)
• Has search engine that queries newsgroup article
  database by subject, newsgroup name, or article
  author

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Really Simple Syndication (RSS) (1)

• A simple XML-based system that allows users to
  subscribe to their favorite websites
• Almost anything that can be broken down into
  discrete items can be sent via a newsfeed (a file
  containing news from a Web log or Web site)
• Enables users to quickly review latest news on
  those sites from a consolidated index rather than
  browsing from site to site

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Really Simple Syndication (RSS) (2)

• Web sites that provide newsfeeds using RSS
  display a small, orange or blue RSS icon that
  you can click to subscribe to the newsfeed.
• If you have an aggregator on your computer,
  clicking the RSS icon might load the newsfeed and
  give you the option of subscribing to it.
• Other aggregators might require you to
  right-click the RSS icon, copy the shortcut it
  contains, and then paste it into your browsers
  Address bar or into the aggregator to subscribe
  to the newsfeed.

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How to Access RSS Newsfeeds? (1)

• Aggregator a program on computer/mobile device
  that lets you read newsfeed content by clicking
  on a link to the published content of interest
• FeedDemon
• RSS newsfeeds (download from Internet or add RSS
  feeds to a Webpage)
• Yahoo!News - RSS
• RSS Network

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How to Access RSS Newsfeeds? (2)

• Web sites - search for and aggregate feeds that
  are displayed entirely in the browser
• www.bloglines.com
• www.pubsub.com

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Podcasting (1)

• In 2004, programmers were able to synchronize and
  encode audio files in RSS newsfeeds led to
  Podcasting
• Podcasting - lets a user subscribe to an audio
  feed (usually stored in the MP3 file format) and
  then listen to it at the users convenience on an
  MP3 device (users computer or portable device
  such as an MP3 player)

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Podcasting (2)

• Podcast
• a subscription audio broadcast that is created
  and stored in a digital format on the Internet
• podcast is a combination of the words iPod
  and broadcasting
• any digital audio device or computer with the
  necessary software can receive a podcast

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Podcasting (3)

• Podcastings original use was to make it easy for
  people to create and broadcast their own radio
  shows
• Podcasts are used by the media to interview
  politicians and professors on specific subjects,
  by colleges and universities in distance learning
  classes, and by movie studios to promote new
  movie releases

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Podcatching Software

• The aggregator used for podcasts
• RSS compatible software that downloads feeds from
  their source to the device on which the software
  is loaded
• Most podcasting software is platform independent,
  meaning that it works on any MP3 compatible
  device.

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Podcast Directories

• Podcast Software
• iTunes
• iPodder
• Podcast Search
• Podcast.net
• Podscope
• Subscribing to a podcast
• Your computer will download the program
  automatically on the schedule you select
• If you subscribe using podcatching software on
  your portable media player, it will download and
  store the radio address when you sync your device