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Re: [LUG] top v bottom

 

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Aaron Trevena wrote:
> I stick to always bottom/interspersed - people will get used to it.
>
> If somebody is so incredibly stupid that they don't read your whole
> email (assuming you have quoted clearly and removed any un-necessary
> quoting) then just reply with an empty email saying to read your
> initial reply properly.
>
> A.
My tuppence :)

I think there are three Cs which need to be obeyed for email:  Clear,
Concise, Consistent.

As has been mentioned there are two scenarios with emails:  Group and
Individual.  Personally I try to stick to the same practice with both,
which as has been mentioned is  bottom/intersperse and clip the
unnecessary.

Three reasons for bottom posting, Common Sense, Culture, Temporal
Dynamics.

Common Sense says the question goes first, then the answer.
Culture, at least Western culture, says 'read from the top down', so
why reply above the question?
Temporal Dynamics states that cause precedes effect (No Star Trek
comments TYVM ;)), so cause being question goes before effect, answer.

Also I try (as in this case) only to quote the last person to
contribute, on the basis that anyone interested in the discussion
knows what has been said before, or has the earlier emails.  If it's a
personal email and they have the attention span of a geriatric gnat,
that's not my problem ;)  If more is quoted there is a risk of a
mixture of top and bottom posting in the same thread, and that is
absolutely deadly to read.

So to be Clear, I keep quotes as relevant as possible, Concise keep
them short, and Consistent, follow the pattern the rest of the thread
has dictated, or start a new one.

Kind regards,

Julian
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