Seriously this is the third time my mailbox has to be plagued by e-peen 'This is how you internets' conversations from this list and seriously it's just annoying as hell right now. Thanks for the help with everything, but I'm sick of it.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 3:27 PM, john-thomas richards <<a href="mailto:jtr@jrichards.org">jtr@jrichards.org</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="Ih2E3d">On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 11:09:23AM -0400, Benjamin Flanders wrote:<br>
> What is the social norm. Isn't that where the normal is commonly<br>
> agreed upon? Is placing responses interspersed throughout the e-mail<br>
> commonly agreed upon?<br>
<br>
</div>Wow. How about breaking this "norm..." You responded to a message in<br>
the middle of a thread, broke the thread (so my mail reader no longer<br>
knows this post is part of an existing thread), and changed the subject<br>
header even though the subject - while evolving - did not really<br>
change. *That* makes an extended conversation difficult.<br>
<br>
Placing responses throughout an email facilitates conversation. When<br>
speaking face to face you do not tell another five different, perhaps<br>
unrelated things and receive one response for all five topics, do you?<br>
You say something, I respond. You say something else about something<br>
else, I respond. The closer written communication follows *natural<br>
conversation* the better. When I and others insist on following the<br>
established rules of online communication we are really insisting that<br>
written conversations resemble spoken conversations while those who<br>
oppose those rules want to communicate in a manner that is not<br>
intuitive or natural. Bottom-posting and in-line posting mimics spoken<br>
communication and is far more efficient than one large, combined<br>
response to multiple issues at the top.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>
> Personally I don't like having to scroll through the whole e-mail to<br>
> look for responses. Sometimes, the response is hidden by the ">" of<br>
> the previous empty line. I prefer top posting. No scrolling, the<br>
> responses all right there.<br>
<br>
</div>There is no scrolling *IF* you remember what the post is in response to.<br>
I seriously doubt you never scroll when reading a top-posted response,<br>
unless your memory is far better than mine.<br>
<br>
Some do not include a line break between the quoted text and the<br>
response. This is annoying.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>
> Since this group is divided on this topic, could we consider one way<br>
> or the other a "social norm"? I don't think so. I think we need to<br>
> just overlook the differing styles of responses and discuss what those<br>
> responses are about.<br>
<br>
</div>Thirty years of USENET determined that bottom-posting better<br>
facilitates communication. Since this community is essentially an<br>
online community (the recent monthly meetings notwithstanding) it makes<br>
sense to follow the established rules of communication.<br>
<br>
[snip]<br>
<font color="#888888">--<br>
john-thomas<br>
------<br>
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a<br>
troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be<br>
left to irresponsible action.<br>
George Washington, first US President (1732-1799)<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br>