[access-uk] Replying to Messages
- From: Brendan Magill <brendan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Access-uk <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 26 May 2007 15:25:55 +0100
Hi everyone,
I'm not a Moderator of the Access-UK list, so what follows is my own
personal opinion, given as a member of the list.
Although I'm not one of the more active posters to this list, I do read
quite a bit of what's posted here. I've been reading a good deal of
what's been written in the Top Posting thread.
My own view is that there are far too many replies and far too many
quotes too. These two aspects of using a list are closely linked
together and both have an impact way beyond the message sender.
Looking at replies first, I've expressed the view before that there are
far too many of these. There are several list members who almost
automatically appear to hit Reply on each individual message in their
inbox, rather than reading all the messages in a thread and then writing
one composite reply. This creates an unnecessarily high number of
postings and makes it more difficult to follow the thread.
Quoting is, in my opinion, also greatly over-used. Why is it necessary
to quote previous messages every time? Yes, there are times when it is
appropriate, but to do it every time simply does not add anything to
discussions. It would be perfectly reasonable to refer to specific
points raised in others' postings in any new posting.
The combination of multiple replies and excessive use of quotes vastly
increases network traffic and increases the amount of trash we all
have. There are quite a few people who still use modems, for whom the
extra numbers of messages and the increasing size of them as quotes grow
mean that downloading takes longer. Also, because only certain previous
postings are included in any quotation in a reply, only certain aspects
of the thread are replicated; this can lead to confusion for the reader.
I would therefore urge everyone to write composite replies and to
minimize their use of quotes in their replies. If you want to comment
on something that has been said by someone else, it shouldn't be too
difficult to identify the detail in your reply.
Sorry if anyone feels offended by any of this, but these two aspects of
Access-UK list usage annoy me every time I look at my inbox.
Cheers,
Brendan.
--
BRENDAN MAGILL
Business, Employment &
Disability Consultancy
8 York Place
Worcester
WR1 3DR
England
Phone: +44 (0)1905 28286
Fax: +44 (0)870 127 7856
Web: www.magill.co.uk
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