In February, America Online will discontinue providing member access to Usenet newsgroups, one of the earliest forums on the Internet.

AOL subscribers who access the forums by using the keyword “newsgroups” are greeted with a message informing them that the service will be “discontinued in early 2005.” Members are advised to visit Google Groups if they wish to continue accessing Usenet.

“We’ve just been finding over the years that more members are turning to other forums, like message boards and blogs,” AOL spokesperson Jay Esmele told NewsFactor.

“The number of AOL members actually using the Usenet groups is very minimal, and it’s decreasing,” she added.

Source: NewsFactor