What is alt.fan.pratchett?
Alt.fan.pratchett (or AFP, for short) is an unmoderated, relatively high-volume, newsgroup. This means that it is an many-to-many entity on the Internet that is distributed in a certain manner known as NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol).
Effectively, when a post is made to alt.fan.pratchett by anyone, it is duplicated on thousands and thousands of servers around the world, and is potentially available to anyone using those servers.
The original charter of AFP stated that it was a place for fans of Terry Pratchett to discuss his books. Over more than ten years, things have changed and, these days, AFP tends to an online discussion space for anyone who fits into the prevailing atmosphere. It's quite possible to spend a large amount of time on AFP without ever having your "Pratchett Fan Credentials" questioned. As such, the discussions within AFP often have nothing to do with Terry or his writing and the group represents different things to different people.
AFP prides itself on being "friendly to newcomers" but, at the same time, maintains a fairly strict set of posting guidelines, tends to reinforce the rules of "nettiquette" and does not tolerate trangressions especially well. The group also has a fondness for running in-jokes and traditions to the extent that the traditional welcome to newcomers is likely to contain a reference to a quote from a book published in 1988 and first used around within the group in 1998. It is also a group that attracts high levels of continuity with some posters having participated in the group since it's inception in 1992 or shortly thereafter.
Here are a few things you should know about AFP before you try posting:
- AFP not the place to ask basic questions about Terry Pratchett and his work. If you are looking for answers to simple questions, then there are better places to go. At the very least, try to do some research of your own before you ask a question on AFP.
- It is not a newgroup in which discussion is restricted to issues directly relating to Terry Pratchett. Any topic at all may be discussed - although some topics are less welcome than others.
- Even though any topic may be discussed in a pleasant manner, AFP is not a platform in which your right to speak your mind is unrestricted. Trouble has arisen when (for example) an over-enthusiastic statement of opinion has been taken as implying a command to agree. If you are looking for a newsgroup where 'anything goes', then more appropriate newsgroups exist.
- AFP is more than just a newsgroup. It is also a social group with its own sub-culture. In the real world, when you travel to different countries, you are expected to make an effort to embrace the culture of the people around you. The same applies to newsgroups, and especially to AFP.