Thread:User talk:Nx/Reality check/reply (17)

I think the problem is mostly cosmetic. First I think the "new message" text is to tightly woven with the conception of messages specifically to the user. You don't expect "new messages" to show new messages to other people. The other issue is the numerical count that keeps changing/going up. This makes it hard to ignore, and feel the need to "sort them out." The watch list does not alter the cosmetic look of the site and changes are easily ignored.

These two things combined make it feel far more intrusive than the old system.