Bottom replies are easier to read, but you must be responsible. Replying to a long email with a one-liner way down there at the bottom isn't very nice. Trim out the bits that you're not really responding to. If you're giving an ultra-short-winded yes/no (and people do this!), maybe a top post is fine!
But to me the most important aspect of this debate is consistency. There are dead-set top- or bottom-posters who will <em>break the flow of a conversation</em> just to force their hand in the matter. If you're replying to a 2- or 3-level deep thread that reads bottom to top, is bottom-posting below all that (and thus closest to the <em>oldest</em> part of the message) really considerate of people who will be reading it?
Authored Comments
Oh this requires more than an a/b answer :)
Bottom replies are easier to read, but you must be responsible. Replying to a long email with a one-liner way down there at the bottom isn't very nice. Trim out the bits that you're not really responding to. If you're giving an ultra-short-winded yes/no (and people do this!), maybe a top post is fine!
But to me the most important aspect of this debate is consistency. There are dead-set top- or bottom-posters who will <em>break the flow of a conversation</em> just to force their hand in the matter. If you're replying to a 2- or 3-level deep thread that reads bottom to top, is bottom-posting below all that (and thus closest to the <em>oldest</em> part of the message) really considerate of people who will be reading it?
Happy sensible-posting ;)
"Patches happily accepted!"