Definition

alternate newsgroup (alt.)

Part of the Internet technologies glossary:

"alt." is the prefix for any of the hundreds of "alternate" user-originated newsgroup s that are part of Usenet . Like other newsgroups, each "alt." newsgroup is arranged in a hierarchy of topical discussion boards that you may read or post to. "alt" is one of many major newsgroups; others include: news, rec (recreation), comp (computers), and soc (social). The "alt" newsgroups are known (and used most frequently) for their alt.sex and related categories, but are also known for including a wide and inventive range of discussion topics.

Next Steps

The easiest way to get access to newsgroups is through the Google Web site.

This was last updated in January 2011
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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