This may be a stupid question, but I've seen references throughout the board to "topping" -- people being criticized for doing it. What is it?

--Nicole (newbie here)

Replying to a post sends it to the top.

This reply will make your post #1 and, therefore, more likely to be seen and answered.

does ttt mean the same thing? I've seen that too.

Beth (another newbie)

Thanks for the explanation. And, given that I'm topping by writing this, why is this a bad thing? Several threads I've seen have expressed annoyance with people for topping a subject that has been discussed before. Is this frowned upon?

--Nicole

Yes BethGL, ttt (to the top) is the more common version here on Fodors.

Nicole, I think most Fodors regulars only get annoyed with ttt in the following circumstances:
1. original poster ttt's within a short span of time (eg 30mins or less) after initial post; it signals desperation for immediation attention
2. original poster ttt's his posting every few days to make it constantly available; too much self-importance
3. when someone digs up a really old thread (eg over 1yr old) or controversial topic just to get more "heated" discussions on a subject matter most of us would rather forget or ignore

I'm sure other annoying reasons abound.

But in general, ttt is perfectly acceptable when you fear a very interestic topic or question may fall to the wayside or you haven't received any responses to your question after a few days...shorter wait time to ttt is encouraged if it's posted on a popular forum like Italy where you can see 50 new posts in less than a day. Let's face it, once out of sight, it's often history and only to be found by a search!

Hope this helps!

If a topic is all that interesting, there shouldn't be any need to top it. Do keep in mind that when you top a message, you are pushing someone else's more recent message that hasn't had as much chance to get a response yet further down.