The plethora of sites dedicated to the Usenet system reveal that it is still very much alive. In fact, with the growing popularity of P2Ppeer to peerfile sharing, Usenet has proven that its long-standing model of transferring files is still viable.
This method is preferable to torrenting and other technologies in several regards. There is no place where the debate between one technology and another is engaged with such passion as it is on the Internet, and Usenet has been the subject of a great many conversations of late.
Many of these conversations have to do with speed. Torrent protocols have proven that they can deliver large downloads at impressive speeds. However, it is not only the torrent protocol that can make this boast. Usenet manages the same high speeds via a very different protocol.
While the adherents of one protocol or another continue to take swipes at each others pet technology, most users find themselves using the Usenet system as a part of their entire Internet technology use. The debaters, in many cases, fail to see the forest for the trees, as every technology has its use, whether its old or new.
Usenet offers users a different way of using the web to interact with others, which has also made it part of the conversation where social networking is concerned. Though its proponents like to refer to social networking technologies as Web 2.0, the Usenet system has roots that extend far before there was even a Web 1.0.
This system has some of the best features of bulletin boardstext posts, fast downloads and very specific interest groupsand some of the best features of new technologies. Its users are just not going to give it up, and for many good reasons.
There are literally thousands of subjects among the Usenet newsgroups. Contrast this to the relatively few interests found on any given forum. A Usenet user can surf newsgroups very quickly, whereas a forum user has to create a separate account for every different forum. Social networking sites also come and go very quickly.
Usenet has been around for a very long time and the work that one puts into forging relationships via the newsgroups oftentimes pays off for many years. Oddly, much of the debate surrounding Usenet concerns whether this venerable technology still outdoes its modern peers. It does, in many cases.