I'm going to make the topic titles editable in the PDA section so that a person can use them to make announcements when something major happens.
It's a compromise between creating new topics for each announcement and not making any visible changes at all.
The title of Jane123's dedicated PDA topic could be used in a way like this:
"Jane123: Going in for a surgery on August 3, page 14"
And then every person who wants to check on that particular individual can jump straight to page 14 of her dedicated PDA topic.
Later on, the topic can be reset to just "Jane123". And when something else happens that needs to be announced, the title can be updated to refled the new situation.
If everyone sticks to such title "standard", simply opening up the PDA section and looking at the list of topics would give an instant overview of everyones lives. You could easily see what's happening with whome and if you decide to read more or to post a response, then you'll know exactly where to do it. It would be a question of two clicks.
This looks to me like the most time-efficient way of keeping in touch.
Let me know what you think.
IMHO...I think this is more of a negativity issue. A simple rule to remember...if you're really needing to vent something negative...do it in the Personal Announcements section. After all...most of us try to be here for each other and are more than willing to lend a shoulder or just an ear.
I think some feel that if they post in the PDA section (especially when they need to vent or need support), not many others will read it. And that's probably true. Fewer people read PDA than GCC.
But there is one thing to consider. Those who really care about you will keep up with your personal happenings, and those who don't care ... why would you care if they are not reading your posts.
Bottom line here is...positivity brings positivity negativity brings negativity.
I think Admin just wants the negatives, and woes in a place where those of us who are close to one another can more effectively deal with it, instead of putting it in a down hill negative spiral for the whole board.
YES! That's exactly what I was talking about. You said it perfectly.
In any case, please let me know what you think about using the topic titles in the PDA section as I described above. This could be a good solution.