It seems logical to me and it would be much easier to have the new comment box at the top of a thread instead at the bottom. When I first started using the Forum I could not find where I could add a comment, it never occurred to me to look on the bottom of the thread. It is such a simple thing but I never saw it on the bottom of a thread before.
I don't understand 1. all forums always had the comment box at the bottom of the thread as far as I can remember (~20 years on the internet) 2. a reply is added underneath, so that's where it is natural to write 3. it encourages reading the whole thread before answering 4. would make for a confusing interface -1 from me
Lots of social media do indeed have the comment box at the top, on further consideration! Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit... the list could probably go on. It is very different, though, because with those sites, the main expectation from the user is that they want to post a comment about the content themselves. That's why the comment box is at the top. A secondary expectation is that they might want to look at what others have said, and potentially reply to them. That is why other people's comments (in Facebook's case not even all of them) are beneath. However, on forums, the primary expectation is that the user will want to read what others have to say and participate in discussion. It is not even a secondary expectation that the user wants to post a comment related to the OP but unrelated to anything other people replied. That's not how forums work. People generally disapprove of people posting a reply to the OP without reading recent posts. That's why you find the comment box in a different place on content-based sites versus discussion-based sites.
