email list etiquette

[George Selby]

At 09:33 PM 8/22/2009, you wrote:
>I'm with Ed.  I think the new stuff should come first.  Reading electronic
>messages differs from reading a book.

That's crazy talk.  That's like hearing a conversation from the end 
first, then gradually understanding what people are talking 
about.  It makes much more sense to have what the person is replying 
to up top, and then reading the reply.  That way you get the subject 
of the reply first, then the reply.

I also hate message boards where they post the most recent post at 
the top.  Then you have to read back and see what people are talking 
about.  It also makes it hard to keep up with a protracted 
thread.  If you have already read the first 8 pages of a thread, it's 
easy to know to go to the start of page 9 and pick up where you left 
off.  With the top post first, you have to figure out where the new 
posts start, then go there and start reading up.


George Selby