On Tue, 7 Mar 2023 09:36:10 +0000 (UTC) Johannes Thyssen Tishman <johan...@thyssentishman.com> wrote:
> When I reply to an email I do so above the senders message, however I > see many people in the mailing lists replying below it. Is this the > preferred way or just preference? Thanks. It comes down to this, if you're posting above the quote, you're basically (intentionally or not) saying "the context does not matter". The exception to this would be if the thread is written in a language that is read bottom to top, in which case, replying above the quote would be the better system. English is not a language read bottom to top. There might be one or two that are, but I personally do not know of any. If you post below, it's clearly a two-way discussion. Interleaving replies helps a busy person "remind" themselves of what you're replying to instead of scanning up/down/up/down and having to mentally piece the discussion together from top-posted replies. To this day I do not know why "business" people prefer the other style, then consistently moan about how distracting email is. My only guess is I think they forgot that this is an electronic file so it's possible to verbatim quote someone's paragraphs and append your reply below unlike dead-tree snail mail, where you'd have to re-write what the other party said (or involving a photocopier, some scissors and some glue in the process). Regards, -- Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL) I haven't lost my mind... ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere.
