Re: Posting: Should the subject line be repeated in the body?

Jonathan Fine wrote:
Richard Cornford wrote:

Please find in some
Netiquette manual advice against relying on the text of the
Subject. John says there should be many instances.

There is no need as it is in the FAQ.

This has become circular.

John Harris, to support the advice given in the FAQ, said that
Netiquette manuals give similar advice.

I looked and said I could not find such, and asked someone else to find
one.

Now Richard Cornford says there's no need, because it says so in the FAQ.

John Harris and Richard Cornford are very likely different people, and
as such may offer different opinions without any danger of circularity.

John Harris' claim was arguably too broad, or at least insufficiently
specific. Many of the best-known netiquette guides do not, in fact,
advise that posters include all relevant information in the message
body. For example, that advice doesn't appear in Keogh's "Zen and the
Art of the Internet", or in Raymond's "How to Ask Questions the Smart
Way", or (by negative example) in the Emily Postnews FAQ, or in
Son-of-1036. Nor, as far as I can tell, is it in any of the materials
traditionally posted to news.announce.newusers.

That said, the recommendation *is* made by some frequency by long-time
Usenet posters. I've seen it many times, on numerous groups.

I'll also note that people who aren't familiar with the documents I
cited above are not in a strong position to argue netiquette. Of
course one may disagree with some or all of them, but if you haven't
read and understood the arguments made for the established positions,
it will be difficult to explain the superiority of your position.

And, finally, as Richard pointed out, it is in the group FAQ (section
1.3). For any newsgroup, that group's FAQ should be taken as the
primary guide for posting there, unless you have excellent reasons for
believing otherwise.

--
Michael Wojcik
Micro Focus
Rhetoric & Writing, Michigan State University
.

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