My impression of Google's groups

My overall impression of Google newsgroups was somewhat mixed. At first I was confused. The newsgroup world with all its .soc, .biz, .misc, was Greek to me. After a few hours of searching through the different groups and threads, however, the confusion turned consternation.

The consternation was a result of my being uncomfortable with some of the user groups. A few of the interest groups focused on subjects and issues that were very lude, rude, or lascivious. I was surprised that Google allowed certain interest groups on their website.

I must say though, beyond that, my impression was one of fascination. I couldn’t help but wonder who started all the groups on Google and how others discovered them. I showed the groups to my secretary at work and she was astounded that they existed. She kept saying, “I didn’t even know that was available on the website; How did you find this anyways?” I was also fascinated that there were so many different groups representing every passion, obsession, interest, hobby, and need of mankind. Whether you are interested in hamsters or humanities, snowboarding or sexuality, Google groups has them all.

I participated in a Christian news group, but they wouldn’t participate with me. I posted a message in a thread, but no one responded. I then attempted to post my message as a “new post” but the moderator blocked it. I assume because of my religious affiliation. At first, I went to my own religious newsgroup (LDS) but they posted uninteresting unimportant messages, so I opted to try the Christian group.

My overall impression of the groups can be summed up in one word—interesting. I have a fascination with these groups, but I can’t help but wonder where those people find the time to play so much.

I spent at least 6-8 hours total online. My thread can be read at the following URL: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=uRt2d.4274%24bj2.3608%40trnddc08&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26group%3Dsoc.religion.christian

(Dave, are you really reading these?)