Why do people detest top posting so much?

[Derek Broughton]

Knapp wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 3:33 PM, Derek Broughton <derek at pointerstop.ca>
> wrote:
>> Odzangba K. Dake wrote:
>>
>>> Ok, I just have to ask... what is so wrong with it. I admit that I
>>> prefer bottom posting because, well, it makes reading easier but quite a
>>> few people on this list (and on others) actively detest it and quite
>>> often snap at you if you bottom post.
>>
>> "Bottom post"?  Surely you meant "top-post".  I've never seen anybody
>> snapped at for bottom-posting itself, though you might get a testy
>> response if you quote 200 lines to add a line at the bottom that says "me
>> too!". More likely nobody will actually read the post...
>>
>>> What's the deal here?
>>
>> As my standard response says:
>>
>> "Please don't top-post.  It makes it hard to have a conversation".
>>
>> Conversations are "he said... she said...".  Reversing it confuses
>> people. --
>> derek
>>
> 
> I think that top posting would not work in a post like the one quoted
> above. If you comment on every few lines like derek did but did it
> with top posting you would have a REALLY hard time reading it.

That's where the problem always occurs.  We get into a conversation like
this - then somebody comes along and throws in a response at the top.  I
want to respond to a point made both by that person and an earlier poster -
where do I put it?  

My usual response then is to dig back through the thread to the earlier
post, respond to that and completely ignore the top poster.  The odd time
that what the top-poster had to say is important enough to respond to, I'll
ask them to please not top-post, before responding inline - but we've now
made the thread completely incoherent.
-- 
derek