Now that the volume has died down a bit, I would venture to mention a
key issue in the top-posting versus bottom-posting war: In hot
debates about controversial subjects, it is easier for a top poster
to dodge an uncomfortable question or fact, with the email equivalent
of a wave of the hand. The standard counter was to insist that they
respond point by point, the intent being to flush them out into the
open, where they can be properly dealt with. This was called "bottom
posting", although it actually was interspersed posting, the ideal
being a series of relevant quotes followed by responses. However,
as with many things, what began as a debating tactic morphed into an
item of internet canon law. That said, I have been in the position
of having to force an evasive top-poster to bottom post; otherwise,
the debate would have gone in circles forever. So, there is a reason
to prefer one approach over the other.
Anyway, even if there is no debate, I almost always bottom post, but
with lots of stuff snipped, because I think it easier to follow. If
the posting is long, I usually add a navigation note at the top
telling people that the new stuff is either interspersed or at the
bottom.
Joe Gwinn
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