We're in better shape, but I'm queasing at the idea that we're perceived as in better enough shape to shrug at a de facto general TV thread.

Okay, so, Pros and Cons of the et al.!

Pros:

Latin is cool
People will know to look for things like Stargate discussion in Boxed Set
It's honest

Cons: People will start things like Stargate discussion in Boxed Set (well, it's a bit late for that one)

Really that's about it, as far as I can see. I'm happy to drop it if it makes people involved in the nitty-gritty of board-running nervous. I mean, I already know that it's the de facto Fannish TV thread, so I don't need the pointer.

Cons: People will start things like Stargate discussion in Boxed Set (well, it's a bit late for that one)

I think the con isn't so much that. We know, accept, understand there is already drift. We want the title/name to reflect just the three shows, so that it doesn't indicate the thread is a general genre thread.

By the way? I could care less about this. I think because I've been so argumentative in this thread lately, anything I say could be interpreted other than how I intend. But when Kat was making the proposal, she was fairly clear about not wanting the new thread to imply it was general, despite the drift we all know and accept, and Kristen and ita were riding the same train of thought. There really is no real pro to having the "et al", and although the con to having it is minor, why have a con at all, when Kristen is officially in panic mode until after the Angel premiere?

I'm not queasing about the et al, per se (double cool, yeah -- did you see how I slipped de facto in my previous post?). Just that my reluctance for a general TV thread is just as intact as it ever was, server load notwithstanding.

I don't think that anyone has proposed that it be a general TV thread, though. That's certainly not my intention, because Im not in favor of one, either. If it's a concern that combining all the shows into one thread could lead to that as an unintended consequence, perhaps we should leave them in separate threads.

I suspect it unlikely that a Boxed Set (ha! Originally typed Bixed Set!) thread could end up a general TV thread. That's partly why I'm all about the phrase "TV Fandom", because the set of TV Fandom people is far smaller than the set of general TV watchers. And the mood of all the existing threads is far more fannish -- fanfic, canonicity, arcane details -- than a general TV thread could stand. Imagine wading through 100 posts about how translator microbes work, to get to the latest news about Survivor 6!

Also, I think that "drift" in this case is (a) already occurred and (b) copes with the predictable drift of the likely users in other venues -- i.e. what fandoms they have or will spread out to, over time -- and (c) relatively safe. Because all but one of the shows we're talking about? Cancelled! Similar-topic drift keeps the threads alive, and talking about 2 cancelled shows isn't as intensive as talking about 2 ongoing shows.

Actually the more I think about it the more the Boxed Set thread sounds like, in about a year, it will be at least partially redundant with either Fanfic, or Bitchy Fic, or both.

If it's a concern that combining all the shows into one thread could lead to that as an unintended consequence, perhaps we should leave them in separate threads.

No, not at all. Drift has already happened, and I'm not bitching about that. I just don't see what our lack of panic has to do with the thread title.

I just don't see what our lack of panic has to do with the thread title.

I think it was the other way around. The reason some people mentioned for changing it was so as not to explicitly encourage thread drift because of the concern over the server connection problem.

I think it was the other way around. The reason some people mentioned for changing it was so as not to explicitly encourage thread drift because of the concern over the server connection problem.

I don't think it was a matter of encouraging (or not) thread drift, just not advertising what drift there already is. I can't Nilly the posts from Kristen and possibly Kat when this first started, but I know they were there, and the general (bullshit? maybe, I don't know) consensus was that the name should specify the three shows, and that's pretty much it. Why is this an issue that is causing such resistance?

I am SO confused. Are we arguing over whether or not the thread title should have "et al" in it?

Are we arguing over whether or not the thread title should have "et al" in it?

I'm not. I'm all I can speak for.