Chapter 4: Usenet customs & myths (3 of 7) -- CROSS-POSTING

     Sometimes, you'll have an issue you think should be discussed in
more than one newsgroup.  Rather than posting individual messages in each
group, you can post the same message in several groups at once, through a
process known as cross-posting.
     Say you want to start a discussion about the political ramifications
of importing rare tropical fish from Brazil.  People who read rec.aquaria
might have something to say. So might people who read
alt.politics.animals and talk.politics.misc.
     Cross-posting is easy.  When you get ready to post a message
(whether through Pnews for rn or the :post command in nn), you'll be
asked in which newsgroups.  Type the names of the various groups,
separated by a comma, but no space, for example:

          rec.aquaria,alt.politics.animals,talk.politics.misc

and hit enter.  After answering the other questions (geographic
distribution, etc.), the message will be posted in the various groups
(unless one of the groups is moderated, in which case the message goes to
the moderator, who decides whether to make it public).
     It's considered bad form to post to an excessive number of
newsgroups, or inappropriate newsgroups.  Chances are, you don't really
have to post something in 20 different places.  And while you may think
your particular political issue is vitally important to the fate of the
world, chances are the readers of rec.arts.comics will not, or at least
not important enough to impose on them.  You'll get a lot of nasty e-
mail messages demanding you restrict your messages to the "appropriate"
newsgroups.