# Usenet Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/usenet/ 26 people recommended Usenet in Hacker News comments, 7 had mixed feelings and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 27 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend Usenet for its decentralized design, cheap full-speed access to media, and friendly discussion groups. Critics say spam and floods of posts degraded it over time. Summary written by Claude from 41 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 40 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Decentralized, no corporate control (3 comments in the sample): "I am referring to the protocol and network design, as an example of a federated system offering resilience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47965793)) "being the only decentralized platform without neither corporation nor goverment control" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48747970)) "If the “protocols not platforms” philosophy is the right track" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49019071)) - Cheap, full-speed access to media (3 comments in the sample): "Usenet + the *arr stack + Plex or Jellyfin make it completely effortless to watch any movie or TV show I can think of" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46166378)) "I max out my gigabit connection for a few dollars a month." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50117149)) "it's cheaper than paying for multiple streaming services" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48754106)) - Civil, helpful discussion groups (3 comments in the sample): "some groups were very snubby and elitist others were very helpful and encouraging" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45986372)) "Usenet had the best online discourse - hardly any angry personal flaming" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49422368)) "I love hanging out on a few Usenet groups" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46123585)) - Free, feature-rich clients (2 comments in the sample): "there was thriving ecosystem of feature rich, free and open Usenet clients." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046466)) "It was free and distributed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49888150)) ## What people warn about - Toxic, unpleasant community culture (3 comments in the sample): "Usenet was the biggest nightmare we had to deal with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47660712)) "Usenet is a cesspool, a dung heap" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49492977)) "it was basically a public toilet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283399)) - Degraded and mostly dead (2 comments in the sample): "the old Usenet did it better, but it's dead to most people" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47756506)) "Usenet - the birthplace of trolling - eventually degraded to the point of near uselessness." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47301972)) - Spam and floods of posts (2 comments in the sample): "The death of USENET was in many ways the flood of posts that made this no longer feasible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48765092)) "usenet couldn't solve the spam problem" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47119110)) - Limited content coverage (2 comments in the sample): "cover a part of '81 - '91 but only from one host" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49674732)) "It can’t cover all my interests" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46484492)) ## What people recommend instead - [Eternal September](https://hackerapproved.com/p/eternal-september/): 6 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Usenet", https://hackerapproved.com/p/usenet/ (26 recommend, 7 mixed, 9 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.