None of your friends want to hear about how Kitty ate your roommate's prized goldfish!? Well there are thousands of people in the online world who'd just love to hear all about it, and tell you more cutesy cat stories than you ever dreamed there were cats. Yes, newsgroups may be just the place for you.

Newsgroups are places on the Internet where people exchange stories, information and even news. They often have addresses like: rec.pets.stupid-cat-stories (the rec. stands for 'recreational'), or on a more serious note, soc.culture.middle-east (to discuss 'social' issues.) Newsgroups let you browse their email-like postings in a leisurely manner, as well as post your own stuff.

Listservs are similar to newsgroups in that there's one on almost any topic, but they work a little differently. A listserv is a software program that distributes e-mail to all the people subscribed to the 'list'. By subscribing to a listserv you will receive a copy of all email posted to the list's address. Similarly, anything you post will be sent to everybody else subscribed to the list -- so be careful what you say about your roomate's darn cat.