> People who have been doing mailing lists for years or decades tend to bottom-post
My two cents: On this dynamic planet, we have adjusted rules to adopt to newer inventions, developments and trends.
For example, when cellular phones came, they were (at least in my institution) totally forbidden to be brought into any library. Because at that time, the sole purpose was communicating to others. But now, we have realized that academic work can be greatly be enhanced by smart devises --- say via data storage, ebooks, computing software, etc. Hence, the rule gets relaxed and improved --- all electronic devices must be kept in silent mode in the library.