How to Write a Good Newsgroup Proposal
The most important part of creating a new newsgroup is writing a
concise, persuasive Request for Discussion (RFD), one that entices the
reader to consider joining the proposed group, without pushing
anyone's "bozo button". Toward that goal, we offer the following
generally sound advice, based on decades of combined experience with
the Usenet newsgroup creation process and dozens of our own (usually)
successful RFDs.
Many early attempts at an RFD contain items that do not belong in an
RFD. A good RFD should contain only a charter for the group; the
rationale for creating it; a statement of moderation policy, if the
group is to be moderated; and a statement of any plans to gate the
group to a mailing list. The history of the topic that the group will
address does not belong in the RFD; you can give an outline in a
separate article (one that would not appear in
news.announce.newgroups.)
The Rationale
The rationale is a brief, pursuasive explanation of why the group
should be created. Statements about the worthiness of the topic
itself, relative to the topic of other Usenet groups or anything
outside of Usenet, should be avoided. Concentrate on noting the
relationship of the proposed group to other existing groups. If the
proposed group would conflict or overlap with another group, justify
why the new group is necessary or desirable, and explain why the other
group(s) do(es) not serve the purpose. Be as tactful as you know how;
if you offend or antagonize the readers of those other groups, they
may do their best to prevent your group, by voting NO themselves and
by turning other voters against you. There is a good chance they
could win, if they really wanted to. Weak rationales that are sure to
push the "bozo button" include:
- denigrations of thy neighbor
- X group is dead, so you want to start over with Y
- X group is less socially redeeming than Y would be
- X group is less deserving than Y would be
- appeals to political correctness
- Y is a minority and a newsgroup will enhance equality
- Y is a crank idea and a newsgroup will lend legitimacy
- Y people are special and need a place of their own
- admission of outright laziness/theft
- Y2 group should be moderated to control inappropriate
traffic, but that's work, so you want Y instead
- Y2 group covers extra stuff you don't care about, so
you want to siphon the good stuff away into Y
- Y2 mailing list is too busy for you, but doesn't want
to add a gated newsgroup, so you want to start
Y group and pull readers away from the list
- Y2 mailing list is dead, so you want to attract readers
to Y group separate from or gated to the list
- a mailing list is too much work for you to run
- a mailing list is too hard for readers to find
Your motives may fall into one or more of the above ignoble
categories. Or your motives may be pure and noble. Alas, admissions
of bad motives will count against you, while statements of good
motives will be met with sympathy but not much else.
We won't care what your motives are, and neither will the readers of
your RFD, *if* you set them aside and instead persuade your readers of
any strong, good reasons to create the group you propose. Good
reasons include evidence of a large readership in Usenet or on one or
more mailing lists, or an inference from other trends:
- Y topic is discussed among A, B, and C groups, ergo readers
exist and would probably use a newsgroup about Y
- Y group is so busy that its readers want to split
- Y group's traffic is of two or more separate types
that clearly don't belong together
- Y mailing list is bursting at the seams and needs to
add a gated newsgroup or readers will leave
- Y mailing list is bursting at the seams and a separate
Y group will ease the traffic on the list
- Y mailing list has N thousand subscribers, suggesting
a group on the same topic would be popular
- Y professional society/hobby group/community has N
thousand members, many of whom have said they
would participate in a newsgroup on the topic
If possible, point to a mailing list which directly deals with the
topic, and describe the number of subscribers to the list and the
approximate number of messages that appear daily on the list. This
data is often available automatically from the mailing list server, or
the list owner may be willing to provide it. If there exists a
mailing list on more or less the same topic as your proposal, it is
important to include this objective information. Also, be careful not
to antagonize the owner or subscribers of the mailing list; they may
have their own plans for the mailing list, and see your RFD as
interfering in some way. It is good manners to obtain the permission
of a mailing list's owner before initiating an RFD that would directly
affect the mailing list.
As a rule of thumb, a newsgroup that is "too busy" has 200+ articles
per day, and a mailing list that is ripe for expansion as a Usenet
newsgroup has 50+ articles per day or 1000+ subscribers. It will help
your proposal a great deal to provide fair, accurate data about usage
of any relevant newsgroups and/or mailing lists. Don't guess, and be
honest. If you can't justify your proposal on these grounds, explain
why your proposal has merit despite neither high readership or high
volume on a related mailing list. For instance, you might be able to
argue convincingly that creation of a newsgroup on the topic you
propose will draw in a readership that does not now exist elsewhere in
Usenet, by inference from other trends in Usenet and in the larger
world. Be creative and very honest, and look at other proposals for
good ideas.
The Charter
In addition to a brief sketch of the general topic of the group, the
charter should mention the types of articles that would be welcome in
the group, and perhaps a mention of types that might seem welcome, but
would be inappropriate.
For example, people setting up a new group to discuss the design and
construction of custom software drivers might not welcome random
requests from computer owners in search of particular drivers specific
to the NoName clone they bought at a yard sale. The charter for this
group might specify "no requests for drivers".
The charter should not include value statements about how worthy the
topic is or why creation of the group would further a social or
political goal in the "real world", outside of Usenet. Because the
charter is a formal description of the anticipated context and scope
of the proposed group, an informal "contract" between the proponent
(you) and the future readers of the group, and a primary reference
source about the group (even more important than a group FAQ), the
charter should be written in a simple, self-contained manner that will
still convey the same meaning a decade from now.
A common problem seen with the charter is that newsgroups should be on
topics of generally *global* interest. Thus proposals for groups tied
to specific national sports teams, for example, don't belong in the
Usenet "big 8". Not even a strong rationale (see below) can rescue
this type of proposal. There are two excellent solutions, though:
modify the charter to encompass the topic at a level of abstraction
that applies to all parts of the world (as in the sport in general) or
investigate how to create a newsgroup within your own national or
regional hiearchy (e.g., us.* for the United States, can.* for Canada,
or de.* for all German-speaking nations).
The Moderator
If the group is to be moderated, you should briefly explain why.
Also, give the name and e-mail address, and briefly list the
qualifications of the proposed moderator, and outline the duties
involved. Usually, the moderator's duty is to uphold the charter of
the group by rejecting articles that do not conform to it.
Final Words of Advice
Remember, your goal is to (1) propose the best possible newsgroup, and
(2) convince others to support your proposal. Thus, writing the RFD
could take you many hours or days of careful thought and research.
Even so, you may find that other people have different ideas about how
to achieve your desired goal, or think they have a better goal in
mind. The critics are often right, so take the time to think
carefully about the comments you receive and why they were given, and
(above all) be patient and stay calm.
The comments you may get from members of group-mentors (and from
group-advice) are not meant to block your proposal, but to ensure that
your proposal is as polished and strong as possible *before* it faces
close public inspection in news.groups. Try not to react defensively
to the feedback you get from us: it is intended to be helpful. If you
don't get the point or it seems that the only possible meaning of our
comments is a flat rejection of your whole proposal, ask for
clarification. Though we may reject specific arguments in your RFD as
factually untrue, logically flawed, or otherwise *not* sound arguments
in favor of your proposal (yes, this does happen), we will never
reject your proposal per se.
Lastly, carefully edit your RFD for content, structure, clarity,
grammar, and spelling.
Good luck!
First Draft: newgroups-request@uunet.uu.net (David Lawrence)
Current Author: una.smith@yale.edu (Una Smith)
Last change: 12 Nov 1995 by una.smith@yale.edu (Una Smith)
Assistance from volunteer "group mentors" is available by contacting
group-mentors@acpub.duke.edu.
Last modified May 30, 1996