Re: Why reply at the bottom of posts?

/ITinerant/ said:

> I'm just curious as to why so many replies are under the original post
> instead of at the top?
> Personally I find this annoying to have to scroll to the bottom to see the
> latest reply.
> In fact, I usually go on to the next post when I'm just lurking.
>
> What news reader are folks using that does this?
>
> This isn't meant to be a mean spirited question.

There are proponents of both styles. Top-posting makes best sense in
mail, when perhaps a single reply can be expected.

In news groups, where threads are deep, I think bottom-posting makes for
better intelligibility - if done with a competent newsreader that does not
mangle quotes as O.E. can. The entire thread can be viewed, and
continuity of the discussion is preserved. Redundancies and sigs can be
stripped. <ctrl-end> usually scrolls to the bottom in a flash.

Another problem with top-posting in groups is that some readers strip out
all text below the -- signature delimiter, as they should. Thus, the
earlier text may vanish, forcing the reader to click on references - which
may have expired from the server.

One thing on which either camp would likely agree is that mixed posting -
bottom and top - quickly creates an unreadable mess. Whichever style you
use, it is best to go with the flow of the thread.^
.

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