Usenet

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here are numerous newsgroups that I subscribe to, and not all of them are to do with cars. But my most frequent haunts include uk.rec.cars.misc, uk.rec.cars.maintenance, and uk.rec.cars.modifications.

When I was a newbie to the Internet, the one thing that I thought was that, given how many people are also supposed to be on there, how alone it felt. Usenet changes all of that: it’s a community.

And as in all communities, there are certain types of people who reside in Usenet. You have those individuals who refuse to accept anybody elses’ opinion - good examples include those diesel-hating characters, or those whom think that it is their God-given right to drive wherever they want, at whatever speed they desire, and should they get caught, the whinge tap gets turned on.

Usenet also attracts those kiddies who are destined to drive a tarted up Nova 1·0 Merit; those spotty “yoofs” who don’t bother to check up on the FAQs, don’t bother to lurk, and indeed those that troll the newsgroup.

Even that the regulars who inhabit the newsgroups are pretty much a die-hard core, it’s soon possible to pretty much guess what people’s reactions will be to a given post.

Common posts to get a decent thread usually involve diesel’s superiority to petrol, how speeding wreaks lives, and why a “Vauxhall Motorsport” sunstripe, “Kenwood” decals and a K & N high performance air filter can transform any old supermini into a road-burning, donutting, high performance supercar. This is why such cars have those natty little seat belt pads to ensure passenger comfort, especially the fifteen year old girls. /sarcasm/

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