Writing: The Newsgroup Way
As people encounter newsgroups, they are likely to discover that the members have formed their own online world. It is a world that is not clearly understood at first glance. Actually, even after a considerable amount of time is spent attempting to learn the ways of the newsgroup, one may still feel somewhat baffled. This confusion is due mainly to jargon and style, specific to that group. The members of the newsgroup alt.support.asthma use a semi-formal style in their communication, which includes a great deal of medical and physical terms that the average person would be unfamiliar with.
This particular newsgroup contains members who are mainly asthma sufferers or their caretakers. There are, however, a few who claim to be doctors. An example is the member, CBI, MD who seems to use his title to subdue opinions that he is opposed to. On October 28, he responded to a thread titled, “Another recent study same topic SAME author William...” in which other members were apparently asking too many questions about why certain medications are more effective than others. CBI, MD’s response was,
The explanation of why is not the issue. The fact
that they work is. We don’t demand an explanation-
just proof of effectiveness as safety. When those are
not offered the discussion might turn to mechanisms in
order to try to get at if there is any reason to suspect the
treatment might work despite the lack of evidence. If it
works, asking why is little more than an academic exercise.
People from all over the world post to the group, which could be partly the reason for the semi-formal style. Russia, China, Austria and England, along with the United States have all been represented in alt.support.asthma. All the members need to be able to understand the messages, so it can’t be filled with American slang. Generally, the group is used by those giving and receiving advice, such as Steven Litvintchouk who had a problem with his medication. On Nov. 1, he sought advice by writing in the thread, “Puffs remaining in maxair autohaler,”
The maxair autohaler has the canister built inside the
device to deliver the puffs. You’re supposed to keep
track of how many puffs you’ve used to date, but I lost
count. Is there any other way to figure out how many
puffs remain in the thing? I can’t see any way to
disassemble it to check the canister in the usual way (float
it in water).
These advice-seekers generally receive genuine help from the other members. In response to Litvinchouk’s post, Ted Edwards politely wrote on Nov. 2,
Sorry I can’t help you on this one but for the future put
a sticky backed label on the side of the puffer and make
a mark every time you use it. You know, the old vertical
lines then a horizontal line through them. When you fill a
row on the label, count them up and start a new row headed
by the total count so far. I do this with my rescue med and
it works well.
The group does have its own type of language. Jargon unique to the group includes names of medications as well as other health-related terms well known in the asthma world. An example is when a member posts a request for information about the asthma drug, Advair. The respondents are familiar with that medication and many have used it themselves. They respond with information concerning side effects as well as the effectiveness of the drug. In this example, the importance of familiarity with the terms is evident.
Other health related terms are often
seen in alt.support.asthma. Often, the article
titles show this by containing asthma-related jargon. “Can Vitamin
E Really Help Me?” is a nutrition-related title. While many
web surfers have probably heard of the vitamin, they may not know how it
is related to asthma. Another article title, “Inhaled Corticosteroids
and Weight Gain,” allows only members to grasp the meaning at first glance.
Another interesting trend of this newsgroup is that very often; members place the quotes of famous people at the end of their posts to emphasize their own thoughts. Colin Campbell used a quote of Franklin Delano Roosevelt from his 1942 State of the Union Address, in his post to the thread “Has anybody tried Alleratin?” on Oct. 14. Roosevelt’s quote is,
We are fighting today for security, for progress,
and for peace, not only for ourselves but for all men,
not only for one generation but for all generations.
We are fighting to cleanse the world of ancient evils,
ancient ills.
The members who post these famous quotes are
trying to avoid arguments with other members in the group regarding their
personal opinions about topics. Rarely does the use of these quotes
succeed in cooling down the hotly debated topics of discussion.
Surprisingly, arguments abound in alt.support.asthma.
Any topic can be considered cause for debate and flamers are quick to start
the arguing. One of the members, Susan, discovered this after responding
to the thread, “Can vitamin E really help me?” on Oct. 2. Susan’s comment
was “I took vitamins and anti-oxidants my entire life and still developed
cancer. They didn’t help me one bit.” She was simply relating
her experience. Matt Narkia used flaming tones in his response to
her on Oct. 3 when he said, “Susan, I think that populistic comments like
this are plain stupid.” Matt didn’t add anything insightful to the
group; he was merely using unnecessarily rude language.
There are a few members who consistently battle each other in their messages. Richard Friedel and Peter Kolb have many instances of flaming and trolling. In the thread, “The conclusion of the study in case you didn’t want,” Richard discusses Peter on Oct. 24 by writing, “ He will be back. He’ll spew the same crap again. Eventually you will get tired of having the same argument over and over again. He won’t.” Peter responds on Oct. 27 with, “I love how the lies start even before he begins discussing.” Eventually, the other members in alt.support.asthma get fed up with this back and forth and finally say something to them like Larry Preuss did on Oct. 28. He wrote, “Isn’t it about time to take this pissing contest back into the locker room and out of public space?”
Although the group tends to stay pretty close to the topic at hand, there have been a few instances where threads had absolutely nothing to do with asthma. One instance someone posted a message to the group about being a wild blonde, which was titled, “Good time out on the town with someone.” This post caused a series of hilarious responses by the members which included jokes about urine such as this message that W. Bowman wrote on Oct. 19, “Bob urine-credible! I believe that they have streaming video.”
The occasional visitor to the newsgroup alt.support.asthma will most likely discover many interesting facts about asthma, its treatments and side effects. They may also find themselves in the middle of a battle of knowledge while the members argue over whose ideas are right. Overall, this is a fairly tame newsgroup where the majority of the members attempt to stick to the topic and remain polite to the other members.
WORKS CITED
Bowman, W. “Good time out on the town with someone.” Online posting.
19 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Campbell, Colin. “Has anybody tried Alleratin?” Online posting. 14 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
CBI, M.D. “Another recent study same topic same author William...” Online posting. 28 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Edwards, Ted. “Puffs remaining in maxair autohaler.” Online posting. 2 Nov. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Friedel, Richard. “The conclusion of the study in case you didn’t know.” Online posting. 24 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Kolb, Peter. “The conclusion of the study in case you didn’t know.” Online posting. 27 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Litvintchouk, Steven. “Puffs remaining in maxair autohaler.” Online posting. 1 Nov. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Narkia, Matt. “Can vitamin E really help me?” Online posting. 3 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Preuss, Larry. “The conclusion of the study in case you didn’t know.” Online posting. 28 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.
Susan. “Can vitamin E really help me?” Online posting.
2 Oct. 2002. Alt.support.asthma.