Re: OT: reply styles, family matters
I'll top-post here because I am replying to the entire message (quoted below).
Whether you top-post, in-post or bottom-post depends on the nature of that to which you reply.
When you reply to and critique an essay, you would likely reply in top-post form and leave the essay at the bottom so that readers, whom you may safely assume have already read it, may conveniently reference it.
When you reply and critique technical matter, you would typically reply in in-post form and reply to individual items. But on another paw, if you are proof-reading the essay, the you must reply in in-post form so that the author knows to which pieces your comments apply.
The difference is that an essay can be considered a single thought and should be replied to as a whole. Conversely, technical matters are a collection of thoughts; it is better to reply to each item so that the author, again, knows to which items your comments apply.
N
On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 20:31:29 -0500 (EST)
Bob Bernstein <poobah@ruptured-duck.com> wrote:
> I have a roughly forty year old nephew who uses email as a
> vehicle for political and philosophical discussion. His father
> is named Dave Bernstein, but not the same Dave Bernstein who
> teaches law at George Mason and recently came out with a book,
> _Lawless_, which looks at the current prez's penchant for um
> shall we say um "improvising" on the limits of the chief
> executive's powers. You get the drift I'm sure.
>
> So I sent my nephew a review of the book that I found in
> _Commentary_, a fairly conservative organ of opinion. I headed
> the email with the subject line "DAVE BERNSTEIN HAS A NEW BOOK
> OUT" in order to tweak his curiosity. It worked. He treated me
> to a spirited reply, rather long too for him, but concluded it
> with this thought:
>
> "Please don't respond line by line. It is patronizing and
> annoying."
>
> I have acquired over the years a habit of carefully quoting and
> replying to those quoted snippets. But it rubs some in my family
> the wrong way. They don't see it as part and parcel of effective
> communication, or as, at bottom, simply good netiquette. They
> feel talked down to. My nephew's father had the same problem
> with me years ago but I think I have brought him around over
> time so that he no longer "takes it personal."
>
> With that as background, here is my question/request: is anyone
> aware of a spirited defence of our ideal method of "selective
> quoting," (for lack of a better label) one, say, that perhaps
> has achieved the status of a "net classic?" Surely some 'net
> genius has dealt these nay-sayers, who seem to LIKE top-posting,
> a solid uppercut?
>
> Thanks,
>
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