[arch-general] Top Posting Revisited

[Rodrigo Amorim Bahiense]

On 12/16/2011 04:59, C Anthony Risinger wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 12:15 AM, Rodrigo Amorim Bahiense
> <rodbzro at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> On 12/16/2011 02:03, Jeffrey Lynn Parke Jr. wrote:
>>> I don't really think that people put any conscious thought into if they
>>> should top or bottom post. A majority of mail clients and
>>> the aforementioned Gmail default to top posting. What I would like to know
>>> is why is this the common practice. Obviously, people on forums and
>>> mailing
>>> lists like everything in the top down, first to last format. This
>>> frustrates me. I'll have to look into that greasemonkey plugin.. I am
>>> always fighting gmail on this issue.
>> I believe top posting is common because [average] people don't use e-mails
>> to write/read long texts anymore, but rather for chatting.
>>
>> Actually, nowadays it seems natural that if there is a way people can chat
>> through some text message system, they will. I've unfollowed a lot of people
>> who apparently thought twitter was just another web messenger.
> this topic is a sinkhole, but what you've stated is an individual's
> failure to recognize social context, and adjust behavior accordingly.
>
> i mean, people don't act the same way with their own family vs.
> meeting their partners for the first time, do they?  or their close
> personal friends vs. new business acquaintances? or when traveling
> abroad?  or on a first date?  or<insert almost any situation>?
>
> ... no, they don't.  the internet allows for obscene levels of
> anonymity that simply *cannot* exist in traditional/direct
> communication -- permitting illusions of zero responsibility, fault,
> repercussion, embarrassment, or humiliation for their activities and
> escapades -- and is why trolls and all other forms of internet garbage
> exist.
>
> entering a community without competently researching and gratuitously
> accepting their established customs/preferences is completely asinine;
> entering that community and publicly smearing said customs, followed
> by proclamations of your own, is pompously asinine.
>
> it's not uncommon for me to spend hours on a reply/question,
> occasionally approaching 4hrs or more, and sometimes spread over
> several days, as i aim to be as clear, complete, and useful as
> possible to the greatest number of people, on *either* side.  anyone
> who does not read to learn and write to teach is>  /dev/null.
>

Hi there. Thanks for your reply.

It wasn't my intention to cover all the nuances and political/social 
implications of this topic. I just tried to say how some people, in my 
humble opinion, becomes very annoying when they want to share their 
perception of the world in _every_single_possible_media_type_. I really, 
really don't want to know where my friends are at every moment, and 
couldn't care less about what they're doing. In my personal view all 
these medias are very abusive to our privacy, and people now tends to 
think that it is very common to share your entire life with the internet.

But anyway, you're right: they can do whatever they want with whatever 
they got. Nobody should repress their freedom of expression.

I was wrong to write that second paragraph in my first reply as it was 
completely out of topic. I'm sorry for that. And am also sorry for 
taking your time to reply because It makes me take my time to reply in 
respect for yours. But the truth is that I don't want to have a 
philosophical discussion on whatever topic here, I'm signed to this list 
for technical discussion.

I'm considering "my thread" done and won't reply any further message. If 
anyone feels compeled to discuss my opinions, please do so off-list and 
I will reply.


--
Rodrigo