Probably a good idea to read the rules post of each section that gives guideline on what each area is for.
PDA is for announcements in your personal life, like a surgery, venting about something that happened etc.
Here is a link to the rules posting on PDA
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-22099-1.htm
General chit chat also has a rules posting but here is a cut and paste of the general guidelines out of that rules posting. The rules are always locked bolded topics at the very top of each section. Below is the quote:
Here are some examples of personal topics that are OK in GCC:
- Pictures of your family, pets, vacation trips, far-away places, etc.
- Links to the wacky and way out things you've run across.
- Seeking advice not related to quilting (example: buying a new camera, do pythons make good pets? how many pecks would a woodchuck pick if a woodchuck could pick pecks?)
- Positive or neutral events in your life or your surroundings that you feel would be of interest to others.
- Positive or neutral announcements, such as birthdays, weddings, etc.
- Consumer alerts that have been confirmed but aren't yet widely publicized.
- Clean jokes.
- Major events occurring "right now".
- Non-quilting group activities (Mare Stare and Word Association Game come to mind).
The above list is not all-inclusive, but only serves to illustrate the "spirit" of this section.