> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > This ought to give everyone a laugh, but they say there are no stupid > questions (except this one): What is top / bottom posting
It's not a dumb question, and the terms "top-posting" (usually used in conjunction with swear words and personal smears) and "bottom-posting" are most often found in Usenet, a portion of the net you may not be that familiar with. Anyway, top-posting is when you place your original text ABOVE any quoted material. Most people find this confusing since you are replying to something they haven't yet read, but some people appreciate it because they apparently have photographic memories and can make sense of your answer without reading the quoted material. These people also apparently "hate to scroll," which apparently means they're not on digest (otherwise they would have scroll just as much using either method). Top-posting is considered bad for three reasons: 1. Top posters tend to forget and quote HUGE portions of material below their replies -- sometimes entire digests, footers and ads included! This wastes bandwidth, fills inboxes with extraneous material, and makes people on digest scroll EVEN MORE. In general, it's just plain inconsiderate and rude, at least in a multi-person conversation situation. The problem is that one email program in particular (you guessed it, Microsoft's!) encourages this behaviour. 2. Most people DON'T have photographic memories and need a SHORT refresher on what it is you're specifically replying to. Considerate posters EDIT the quoted material down to JUST the bit they are specifically addressing. 3. Top posting is reverse-conversation: the answer comes before the question. People don't talk like that. Bottom posting is of course the opposite; you put your reply BELOW quoted material. If you're just quoting material willy-nilly, this can be EVEN MORE ANNOYING than top-posting, but almost all bottom-posters never do this, so it's not really an issue. Bottom posting is more like a real conversation: someone says something, you reply. In that order. It has been made clear on this list that bottom posting (or "interleaving" which is when you quote a bit, then reply, then quote some, then reply some more) is correct and top-posting isn't. This is also true in most other mailing lists and usenet forums, though of course in some forums it's not considered a big issue. I just do what makes the most sense to me, which is bottom-posting (as this post has done) or interleaving (if you had raised several points I wanted to respond to). _Chas_ Come to ... The CHASbah! http://thechasbah.blogspot.com Chas' CULTural Calendar (for Orlando): http://ical.mac.com/chasm/Chas'CULTuralCalendar -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:imac-list@;mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:imac-list-off@;mail.maclaunch.com> For digest mode, email: <mailto:imac-list-digest@;mail.maclaunch.com> Subscription questions: <mailto:listmom@;lemlists.com> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
