Since I started using the internet, something that I've thought was interesting   
   is peoples' attitudes toward bottom-posting vs. top-posting.  On BBSs, it has   
   always been customary to bottom-post, and that is also encouraged by the fact   
   that BBS email software bottom-posts by default.  This was also carried over to   
   Usenet to some extent, but other internet messaging software (email, in   
   particular) is usually made to top-post by default.  Thus, when people reply to   
   email, they usually top-post in their replies.  And when such people go posting   
   on Usenet (and sometimes on BBSs now), they top-post there, and flame wars   
   ensue as people get annoyed.   
      
   What I find especially strange is how people often put all the blame on other   
   people for top-posting when I think the software is partially to blame.  Many   
   email programs & services I've used currently and in the past (Eudora, Mozilla   
   Thunderbird, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.) all top-post, and with some of   
   them, I don't think there's even an option to change it so they bottom-post by   
   default.  So as many people argue with others not to top-post, many such   
   top-posters don't realize it's bad at first because their software top-posts   
   and they don't know any better.  Also, as some software doesn't let you change   
   how they post, it can be tiresome to bottom-post with them.  Software that   
   top-posts by default will insert a couple of blank lines at the top of the   
   message and leave you at the top of the message, so you have to manually   
   removing the first 2 lines they insert at the top of the message, then   
   scroll all the way down to the bottom of the message in order to bottom-post.    
      
   Another thing that I find strange, and a bit peculiar, is that the only places   
   where it's even an issue is on BBSs and Usenet.  When using internet email   
   outside of the BBS realm, top-posting is the norm, and people don't make a fuss   
   about it.  Also, many news web sites allow people to post comments on articles,   
   and many of them show the most recent comment first, akin to top-posting.  That   
   actually bugs me a little bit because when people reply to other comments, it's   
   often hard to follow the conversations.   
      
   I just find it interesting that there is a double-standard regarding   
   top-posting and bottom-posting, where bottom-posting is the norm on BBSs and   
   usenet, and top-posting seems to be the norm pretty much everywhere else.  I   
   also find it interesting that people make such a fuss about it when someone   
   does the opposite.   
      
   Nightfox   
      
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