WOW whole lot of discussion going on here, will try and keep it brief.
I love this board but don't feel that I spend enough time on it or contribute enough to put forward my opinions on content and rules etc.
I would like to give feedback though,
I agree with Terri's comments about GCC, ...I miss it too, since the Personal Diaries were introduced. I find that I am reading less threads and posting fewer comments, as I find it laborious scanning through pages of info on each person (sorry!). Even if you click on the last page to get the most recent updates, you usually have to 'backtrack' to pick up the beginning of the latest subject.
When this was all on GCC, you knew that the most recent posts were at the top of the page, and after a few days they would naturally 'drop off' the front page after most people had read it and everyone who wanted to had commented on it. Anything new in someone's life would appear at the top of the page, it was just 'natural' to read the things at the top, an easy notification that the person had something new to share. I do miss that.
As for suggestions/solutions....eh (shrugs in exasperation) Admin I feel you are in such a difficult position as you are NEVER going to please us all. Having more, specific sections for jokes/diaries etc may be a solution, am not sure. Sorry I can't come up with anything more constructive, but I did want to give you my feedback on the GCC vs Personal Diaries debate.