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e fans (or non-fans...) can express themselves and learn about the interests of others. The newsgroups are filled with questions, comments, remarks, and replies every day pertaining to an array of issues surrounding their series of choice. Typically each television-related newsgroup gets between 100 to over a thousand posts a day from fans around the world. Some sample numbers of posts per day include: 155 for Friends, 324 for Party of Five, 310 for Seinfeld, 800 for X-Files, and 1106 for The Simpsons (data collected once a day for three days). The newsgroups and chat lines are where the true uses and gratifications of television are enhanced. The diversion that television provides is augmented, while the maintenance of personal relations and social interactions are no doubt the main feature of these services. They allow viewers with common interests who live down the street, or on the other side of the planet, to bond with each other and reinforce or reconsider each others opinions. Para-social interactions no doubt arise as well. In response number 3, the fan believes he has established a relationship with one of the Beverly Hills 90210 characters. Assuming this person is serious (which can never be safely assumed), we quite noticeably see the extent to which the internet has elevated viewers' experiences with television. The topics presented in newsgroups and chat lines are tremendously diverse and at the same time quite interesting. Common themes that come up include: favorite episode, favorite line (from any character or one in particular), who dresses the best, ideas for future shows, and hidden messages or meanings in any given episode, or in the series in general. The endless search for hidden messages or alternative interpretations is the most intriguing aspect of the internet that has shaped or enhanced our experience with television. Producers typically convey a dominant ideology in mind when creating a series or episode; a meaning or message that they want to communicate to the audience. The true message transmitted by any given episode or series is determined by the way we decode the semiotics or messages that are portrayed to us either through text, sound, or image. What happens in newsgroups and on chat lines is that hundreds or thousands of individuals come together to discuss the series or episode, typically soon after it airs. The result of this negotiated-reading is the unveiling of new meanings, some intended by the producers, some unintended. This type of analysis is of great interest to most, as it allows for a deeper involvement into the series that you love. Other chat lines and newsgroups are more simplistic. The newsgroup for Beverly Hills 90210, for example, usually consists of fans' remarks about how good Valerie looked or how upset they are that Steve said what he said about Brandon. Either way, these facets of the world-wide web allow for people who truly love the show to get together and discuss it, in whatever fashion they choose. The end result is the same: interest in the show is augmented and the uses and gratifications derived from the show are enhanced. The viewers, however, are not the only ones to benefit from the opportunities the internet provides. Networks and producers have gained an immediate link to the audiences that they are seeking to interpret and satisfy. Producers, writers, executives, and presidents are uninhibited from anonymously going onto these chat lines or newsgroups and asking q