It was only here that I first heard genre used to mean sci-fi/fantasy specifically. If someone had said "a genre book/TV show/movie" before that, I'd have asked, "Which genre?" Even now, outside of this board, I would say, "This is a sci-fi genre book/show." (Well, actually, I'd say, "This is a sci-fi book/show," and not use the word genre in that particular phrase, but you get my drift.) To me, the word genre is more or less synonymous with the word category, a.k.a., Nutty's first definition. My understanding of its use has expanded now to include the way it seems to be used in fandom.

Yep, Jen is me. In fact, this conversation was the first time I realized that "genre" meant sci-fi/fantasy exclusively in fandom. So huh. Learn something new every day!

I'm not getting a contentious vibe - I just think it's a matter of some people being used to one use of the word and others not which, yeah, could cause confusion, though I think it was resolved for Boxed Set a while back. At least, I remember having the definition of genre discussion before.

Yep, this too.

ETA: Well, as usual, I'm slow on the posting finger. So, just, never mind!

And this!

This post brought to you be the department of redundacy.

Yeah, for a bookstore, genre tends to mean "anything I can't/won't put on the main set of shelves," which sometimes includes all that bon said, plus historical stuff, etc.

In television, yeah I tend to generally read it as sci-fi/fantasy.

For an outsider it could be unclear that Natter is for discussion of television that is not covered elsewhere. It is not mentioned in the slug that TV shows without a home are discussed in natter, while other threads specifically cover what shows or types of shows are discussed inside. If my memory is correct this has caused a couple of posts in Boxed Set where new folks thought it was a general TV thread, but that may be before the Sci-Fi/etc. was added to the slug.

In addition to what Drew said, the NAFDA FAQ entry adds to the confusion, because it reads as though we can't discuss current shows in non-NAFDA threads.

Q. NAFDA? Is that an international Buffista treaty?

A. Ummm..... No. It's the North American Free Discussion Area. We have many posters who aren't from North America and are therefore half a season or more behind. In order to keep them unspoiled, we limit discussion of current episodes to specific threads. These are the NAFDA threads. If it's not labeled as a NAFDA thread, don't talk about current episodes in it. We also ask that you don't discuss one show's current season in another show's topic without whitefont, because some people are on tape delay. This means that events from the current season of Buffy should be whitefonted in the Angel topic and vice versa.

Well, Natter is for discussion of everything that is not covered elsewhere.

it reads as though we can't discuss current shows in non-NAFDA threads

And we can't, really, without whitefont anyway. But since the All Up In Everybody's Business folks are revising, they can clarify. NAFDA came about when we were still specifically worried about Angel & Buffy and crossovers and such.

Natter is for discussion of everything that is not covered elsewhere.

Maybe that needs to be bolded, then.

Where does it say that? The slug that I see says:

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or the sad fate of Pluto? This is the place.

We started as a TV centered board, so would discussion of TV be off-topic?

Well, we started off as a Buffy-centric Board so everything that isn't BVTS/Angel is pretty much off-topic. (Natter started at TT and moved with us to WX and to here.)

Maybe we should consider changing "Off topic" to "General"?

And yes, as Liese mentions, I'll get up in the business of the the up-in-everybody's-business people, and suggest clarification to the NAFDA and white font related entries in the FAQ, such that it's clear to a newbie that we do discuss current TV shows that don't fit anywhere else, in Natter, in white font.

We started as a Buffy centred board, so discussion not of Buffy was why Natter was created. As various topics gained heft and support, they got threads. If you can't find a place to put it, Natter is its home. That needs to be made clear. The thread description implies TV lives there, but there is no statement made.

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.