I haven't really felt that anything posted in Press has been totally out of line, though a few times, I've wondered whether something was really neccesary. I think that, based on how I'm remembering when Press was created (after a whole ton of all-thread spamming for some announcements), I see it as a place to post things where (a) some subset of Buffistas needs to know the information, (b) it's impossible to reach that subset by posting in a single thread, and (c) you don't know exactly who that subset is, so email isn't appropriate.

Also - remember that a thread is not just it's original purpose in creation. To the extent there may have been minor drift - it still was not outside of the title or slugs. And it happened from the beginning with no objections. It was not a long term change. To the extent there was thread drift, it drifted from close to day one.

I expect any moment to see someone post in there about stepping out for a manicure, or about their neighbor's brother getting a dog.

I'm going light grey for five minutes while I have my coffee break!

Yeah. Sometimes it makes me laugh, but doesn't set off my batshit o'meter.

I'm careful about Press. It's a place i go when i have to send a message out to the most people, and even then, I'll x-post in Natter and the relevant threads...mostly because I'm posting about a monetary goal or something.

Celebrity deaths? I don't care, but maybe 2/3 of the rest of the community does care. I see people using it as a place for PSAs, and that's fine.

Personally, I hated the deathmatch posts, because I expect something "bigger" in Press, something that could affect the community as a whole. Feel the same way about the opening of a spoiler chat. Post it in spoilers, yo.

But the bottom line for me (and I hope I haven't hurt Elena's feelings, I know the deathmatches are important to you and to the participants), is that I'm mostly able to scroll on by, right now. If Press ends up with 40 posts per day, we have a problem in that people are placing too much importance on trivia. And what is trivial is so subjective, that I'm not sure how one regulates it.

I think that most of us-even those of us relatively new to board culture-are indeed careful about what we post in Press.

I agree with those who've said is a shift (at least as I've experienced this board) and that I think it's working just fine.

remember that a thread is not just it's original purpose in creation. To the extent there may have been minor drift

The point of Beep Me and Press is no drift.

I expect any moment to see someone post in there about stepping out for a manicure, or about their neighbor's brother getting a dog.

I'm going light grey for five minutes while I have my coffee break!

To be fair, though, there's been drift of the other direction in that thread, too. At least, my recollection is that there were initially a lot of "away for the weekend, see you on Monday" posts that don't come up so much now.

The point of Beep Me and Press is no drift.

I think perhaps mission creep is a more accurate term for what we're discussing here, since drift does seem to relate more to conversation in our general usage, which indeed is stomped pretty effectively.

Where the DM posts started pinging people, I think, was the repetition. That makes them, to me, a separate issue from other kinds of mission creep that people are perceiving. (FTR, I found them useful but I don't mind the loss since it did seem to be aggravating some folks.)

I do think Press posts were initially seen as items with a little more urgency to them than some of what we're currently seeing, and I wouldn't be averse to trying to encourage people to consider whether Natter or Beep Me or somewhere else might be a better option.

There's nothing that says the announcements have to be related to board business, or that the announcement would have to be relevant to every single person on the board. It seems to me that the deathmatch start-ups and all the stuff on Gar's list fall under what's appropriate.

The deathmatches come closest, the rest of it, no.

If Press ends up with 40 posts per day, we have a problem in that people are placing too much importance on trivia. And what is trivial is so subjective, that I'm not sure how one regulates it.

Occasional coughing sounds and furrowed brows when it starts to slide that way? A reminder to use your best judgement added to the slug?

I do think Press posts were initially seen as items with a little more urgency to them than some of what we're currently seeing, and I wouldn't be averse to trying to encourage people to consider whether Natter or Beep Me or somewhere else might be a better option.

Yes, this.

Occasional coughing sounds and furrowed brows when it starts to slide that way? A reminder to use your best judgement added to the slug?

This will result in Big Damn Drama and paw licking.

A reminder to use your best judgement added to the slug?

Perhaps judiciousness in what a poster thinks people want to hear, rather than what the poster wants to say. It's for news, not advertising.

I guess I'm weighing in on the discussion.

"Beep Me" seems to strike me as a thread for the online equivelent of polite notes when someone leaves the room Sort of like saying 'If anybody needs me I'll be away for a while" to people at the office.

Also, "beep Me" doubles as a place for if someone is having, had or thanking people for helping, personal moments of pain or joy. (Dark, going, out of the area, etc.)

"Press" always impressed me as a place where people announced inside or outside events, activities or occurances which would otherwise be buried in any one specific forum like "natter," or which appealed to a wider audience than one specific thread.

*shrug*