Xander ,'First Date'
A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.
Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych
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.
I guess my feeling is that there is low posting volume in these threads and some level of confusion over what goes where. Since this is the case, why not just combine them into one announcement thread. As it is it seems that most people just read both threads anyway, so it seems to make sense to make it one stop for all announcements.
As it is it seems that most people just read both threads anyway
Most people haven't even chimed in with anything, much less saying how they read the threads.
I assume Beep Me is for any personal news, and Press is anything that's of interest to Buffistas at large. Pretty much the way FredPete described it. I read both, but if I'm rushed, I'm more likely to read Beep Me first.