ESL Podcast 406 - Participating in Internet Discussion Groups
forum - a group of people who communicate through writing on a website about a particular topic
Ilia found a great forum for Albanians living in New York City.
screen name - the short combination of letters and numbers that a person uses as his or her name or identification when writing online
Her real name is Taisha Mulan, but her screen name is "peace23."
to post - to put text, a photograph, a video, or something else on a website
How often do you post videos on this website?
to lurk - to go to a website and read what other people have written, but not participate by writing anything
About 100 people participate on this website, and we think there are another 60 or so who lurk, reading what's there but never contributing.
thread - groups of messages that are responses to each other; groups of related messages
This website has an interesting thread about how to give large dogs a bath.
to keep a low profile - to act in ways so that other people do not pay very much attention to oneself; to try to not be noticed by other people
For safety, the government tells Americans to keep a low profile when they travel to other countries.
profile - a small collection of information about a person or company, often shown online
Kyon's profile shows his name, birthday, where he went to school, where he works, and his personal interests, like golf and reading.
avatar - a small picture that represents a person using a website, created by the user
Have you ever created an avatar for the websites you go to?
to upload - to transfer files from one's computer to a website
Could you please teach me how to upload photos to my webpage?
FAQs - frequently asked questions; a list of the most common questions that people have about a website or product, with answers
If you can't find the answer to your question in our FAQs, please call to speak with a customer service representative.
to flame - to send a message that is rude (impolite) or angry to other people on a website
Many people started flaming Jonathan after he wrote a message saying that only women should cook and clean.
reply - response; an answer to another message; something that one writes after reading another message, commenting on it
We posted a job ad on the Internet and received more than 75 replies.
caps - capital letters; uppercase letters; letters that are normally used to start sentences and names (ABC, not abc)
Please write your name in caps so that it will be easier to read.
to let (someone) have it - to show someone that one is angry with him or her; to yell or shout in anger at someone
When her husband was more than four hours late coming home, she really let him have it.
to quote (someone) - to repeat what someone else has said
Herbie started his speech by quoting President Theodore Roosevelt: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
out of context - without the surrounding information; without information about when and where something was said, which might change the meaning
They took what I said out of context, and it completely changed the meaning.
never mind - a phrase used to show that something is not important and should be forgotten
Did you say something?
Yes, but never mind. It wasn't important.