[Wylug-discuss] List Etiquette: Top Posting vs. Bottom Posting

Scott Hodgson linux at sh2515.plus.com
Sun Oct 28 10:48:18 GMT 2007


Dave Fisher wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I don't want to give even the feintest hint of personal criticism or
> 'laying down the law' on this matter, but the recent rash of top-posting
> does prompt me to ask members the following questions:
>
>   1. Should we continue to maintain our long-term policy of asking
>      people to bottom post?
>
>   2. If you believe that the policy should be maintained, what do you
>      think we should do about top-posting?
>
> For what it's worth, my personal opinion is that bottom posting still
> offers significant advantages for threaded discussion, especially where
> long threads are involved and where there are any number of interleaved
> responses.
>
> If you are a committed supporter of top-posting, please note the
> qualifications I've just made. 
>
> I fully appreciate that MS Outlook has virtually enforced top posting of
> 1-to-1 email across great swathes of t'Internet.
>
> Moreover, I'd even endorse the idea that top-posting has several
> important communicative advantages in everyday email, e.g. seeing the
> most pertinent message first, before wading into the record of prior
> discussion.
>
> While I'd personally like to maintain bottom posting, I'd prefer
> consistent top-posting to a free-for-all miscellany of top-, bottom- and
> middle-posting.
>
> In my experience, the need to readjust both reading and writing modes on
> a message by message basis is a right pain in the neck, wrist and brain
>
> ... and I'd even go so far as to claim that mixing posting modes makes
> it objectively difficult to follow more than 2 or 3 steps in a threaded
> discussion.
>
> Your thoughts, please.
>
> Dave
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wylug-discuss mailing list
> Wylug-discuss at wylug.org.uk
> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/wylug-discuss
>
> --
> This email has been verified as Virus free
> Virus Protection and more available at http://www.plus.net
>
>   
Oops! I am sorry, I believe I am one of the offenders of top-posting, I 
do apologise.  Though I am sure they are in the rules etc; I didn't know 
about this as I virtually never read any binding literature for my 
computers.  I will post on the bottom from now unless, as you state, 
people agree something else, but please keep me informed so as not to 
offend again.

Scott



More information about the Wylug-discuss mailing list