[jgoerzen]

Yes. Many groups are pretty much dead, but there are some that are active (a handful that are QUITE active). The quality of the active groups ranges from "60% flames" to "these are Ph. D's talking to each other about things I will never understand". Though most, of course, are somewhere in-between.

Compare this to Reddit however you like.

[Darthbuddha]

Can you name a few I've been using usenet for over 4 years now with other pruporses but would love to delve into newsgroups.

[jgoerzen]

Sure!

alt.arts.poetry.comments

alt.bbs.synchronet

alt.comp.software.firefox

alt.fan.usenet

alt.folklore.computers

alt.os.linux.debian

alt.pub.coffeehouse.amethyst (This is somewhat low-traffic but is unique; people write in the third person imagining themselves stepping into a friendly coffeehouse)

comp.infosystems.gopher

comp.os.linux.misc

comp.os.linux.networking

comp.risks (moderated)

comp.sys.raspberry-pi

comp.unix.shell

gnu.emacs.help

rec.food.cooking (eh, 60% flames, 40% interesting)

rec.music.classical.recordings (surprisingly active)

[jandrese]

> comp.infosystems.gopher

LOL. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the overlap in interests. You like one old fossil of a communication system you will probably like more.

[rikroots]

Surprised to see alt.arts.poetry.comments on this list. Yes it remains active, but the regular posters there[1] are for the most part the remnants who triggered the Great Poet Flight to various online (moderated) forum venues 20 years ago.

Some of those troll fights were fun. Some even involved poetry.

Also: obligatory link to the Usenet Poetry Groups "Rogues Gallery" that I created prior to the Great Poet Flight: http://www.rikweb.co.uk/photos/rogues-gallery.html

[1] - https://groups.google.com/g/alt.arts.poetry.comments

[anthk]

Also:

rec.arts.int-fiction

rec.games.int-fiction

rec.games.roguelike.nethack

[dsr_]

Live: rec.arts.sf.written -- discussion of written science fiction and fantasy

Nearly dead, but if you post cogently, someone will respond: rec.audio.high-end -- discussion of high-quality (not necessarily high cost) audio reproduction

[vt240]

I follow comp.os.vms and sci.electronics.design is always hot. I think there's probably a lot of little corners of usenet which are still pretty active. I was sad to see comp.dsp die off, but it's been equally more active by the same people on stackexchange.