Stop top posting, please.

[Kurt]

--- Charles Steinkuehler <charles at steinkuehler.net>
wrote:
(edited previously quoted message)
> 
> To me, the whole top-posting thing isn't about
> bandwidth or storage, but 
> courtesy.  The 'top-poster' by definition has
> included some (or all) of 
> a previous message, preceded by their own comments.

perhaps the 'included' message was included purposely
to allow those to know what they were replying to? I
have seen it done just as many times by the
'bottom-posters' also. I don't think pointing fingers
would be too relevant here, the 'bottom-posters' do it
too.

> 
> Since english reads top-down, this not only puts the
> text flow out of 
> normal time sequence, but says to me that the
> poster:
> 
> a) didn't take the time to scroll down in their mail
> client (expecting 
> me and *ALL* other viewers to do this for them)
> 
> b) expects me to spend my time linking the relevant
> prior information 
> with the content of their post, usually without any
> snipping of previous 
> content or other syntactical clues that would make
> this easier
> 
> c) simply hit "reply" and started typing, because
> that was the easiest 
> thing to do (typically leaving a growing tail of
> signatures and 
> mailing-list notices at the bottom).
> 
> d) all of the above :-)

this is assuming alot. there is a saying about
assuming, but i dont think i need to quote it here. :)
i read only the topics that im interested in, and
delete the rest. the ones that im interested in, i
follow, every single post. so its not necessary for me
to 'catch up'. i dont feel that leaving the original
post at top serves any purpose other than allowing
others to 'catch up' on the topic. that is not my
responsibility. we're all big kids, we can do that on
our own. if they need to catch up, _they_ can scroll
down...
> 
> This (and other mailing lists) are public forums. 
> Any messages you send 
> to the list gets read by a *LOT* of people.  By
> posting to a list, you 
> are asking a large number of people to listen to
> what you have to say. 
> It is impolite to ask these people to stumble over
> your poorly formatted 
> message in the process.

i also feel its impolite to require them to scroll
through a message that they have already read
(sometimes SEVERAL times) to view the reply. some
members here only check their mail infrequently, and
reply to messages that are a day or more old. is it
not impolite for me to have to scroll through a
message that i have already read 4 times to view an
outdated reply? 

> 
> Bottom line:  When posting messages to a large group
> of people, you 
> should do what you can to make it easy for them to
> read,

i do, i post my message where they can view it quickly
and easily. if they have no idea what the topic is,
then why is it MY responsibility to get them up to
speed? 

> conveying the 
> impression (even if it's false) that you care about
> their time, not just 
> your own.
> 
> Every message I see that is top-posted or simply
> quotes the entire 
> previous message verbatim (or otherwise makes it
> harder for me to follow 
> the ongoing discussion) strikes me as slightly rude.

but why should others put an extra effort out for you
to be able to easily follow the discussion? i have NO
PROBLEM reading any and all posts (and im an
intolerant bastard) top, bottom, middle posters,
whatever (html included).

>  Not as bad as 
> spam, but I typically don't give these
> "inconsiderate" messages as much 
> thought as well formatted, easy to read messages, so
> they're that much 
> more likely to wind up in /dev/null.

perhaps there should be rules governing how to post?
then everyone who joins would be aware of how not to
piss off the purists. im not trying to pour gasoline
on a fire, but it just seems to me (and this is my
*opinion*) that there is very little content here
anymore. i know everyone is irked about all the spam
and what not, but this whole list seems to be
imploding. its not why i joined. and the reason that i
joined, well, doesnt even seem to be relevant
anymore...

let me say that i mean no disrespect to ANYONE on this
list, but this just strikes me as childish whining,
just like the no html thread.

(please dont start a post about the lack of caps, i
cant be assed to press the shift key...)

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