Why do people replying to posts, cut and paste the whole of the original post? See second response to this thread - as an example.

It's pointless and consumes screen space, not to mention server memory and bandwidth.

It is because the buttons used for replying are a bit confusing.

On top of that the button directly under the post is "reply".

It invites people to use this button.

You first have to scroll or look further down to find the correct button "add reply"

I noticed from the fora i manage people get a litle scared when they see all the text already inside their reply. Most leave it untouched. I changed the behavior on my fora to a new empty message.

A much more clear forum as a result.

Quoting is an extra step. Most people know how to cut and paste manually.

Guesthouse,

I completely agree: a dozen people post, repost, and repost again, an entire article. I guess they think that, using a lot of space makes them special. It sure does. Even worse, are minute-by-minute updates of anything Taksin-related: "10:00 - a guy speaks...10:05 another guy speaks...10:20, yet another guy speaks...10:45, someone calls taksin 'a big dope'...10:50, some guy agrees with the first guy..."

Is the business forum the right place to be posting this subject? Perhaps forum support would be a better place to put this one.

Agreed. the business section isn't really an appropriate place for this topic.