Or, to phrase it yet another way, the two threads are like a newspaper. Press is the news section. Beep Me is the personal ads and announcements.

if people who weren't around when the decisions were made can even understand the fine distinction.

As they stand now, I think the threads in general do what they're intended to do. Press is so that people don't have to post in every thread when something major is going on (i.e., Lightbulbs is open for discussion on the proposal to sing the praises of Teppy), and Beep Me is for personal noteworthy things that people feel are important for the rest of us to know (I might be dark grey for a while because my kidney exploded when the roof fell in on me after the aliens landed on it -- WTF-ma is requested). That said, given the low posting volume in each, and the somewhat fuzzy distinction (for some people) between the two, I'd be fine with them being combined.

(That last sentence above is NOT, however, a proposal to do so, nor is it an endorsement of combining threads, nor is it a slander upon the existence of 2 separate threads. It's just a comment.)

Press is the news section. Beep Me is the personal ads and announcements.

I would have said the reverse, myself.

Press is the news section. Beep Me is the personal ads and announcements.

Like ita, I think I have a good fix on what I expect to see in each of the two threads, but this analogy confuses me. What is "news" and "personal ads" in this context? How is an announcement different from news?

Well, it does say "personal announcements" right under Beep Me.

I think part of the problem may be that some posts, like Kristin's car, don't fit neatly into one category or the other. Most of the time, I think I know where to post and do so appropriately, but every now and then I'm not sure and just take a stab at it.

I parsed Fred Pete's post as (personal * ads) + (announcements) not personal * (ads + announcements)

Even so, "ads", as I understand them, should go into Press.

t edit But I agree with Libkitty, that Kristin's post was a little of both, so it made sense for her to pick one thread to place the entire announcement.

I read em both. I don't notice if others don't see the distinction exactly the same as I do. Combined or not doesn't matter to me.

If I am going on vacation to South Bend and would like some travel~ma I'd put it in Beep Me. If I'm going to South Bend to attend a All Hail Buffy weekend I might put it in Press.

The way I think of it is that if the announcement only involves/affects me, it goes into Beep Me. If it involves/affects other people, then it's Press. i.e. if I get a new job or have a kid or move, that's Beep Me. If there's a screening or something cool for sale, then it's Press.

I see "news" as the headlines that will interest everyone, even if the event didn't happen to any particular Buffista. Maybe "announcements" is better than "personal ads" -- the equivalent of the newspaper's marriages, births, obituaries sections.

So, just to give an example, "Big-Name Author to Appear at Big-Name Con" would be Press. "Buffista Marries Big-Name Author" would be Beep Me.

There's certain room for overlap (for example, "Buffista Becomes Big-Name Author"), but it works for me as a general rule.