When you see these notations you'll only find a mark like * or perhaps a dot ( . ) since something must appear in the message field to be posted on the board. It's an courtesy from the old days when modems were s l o w and it was a sin to make people download messages like "me too" or "lol". Off topic isn't much of an issue here since everyone seems to have a healthy RL (Real Life!) that they share on the board.