It's possible to subscribe to threads. If I'm not mistaken, the system notifies the subscriber by e-mail if they choose to subscribe.
Yup, at the top of any thread you can see a drop-down button titled "Thread Tools." From there, click "Subscribe to this Thread" and it will be placed into your subscriptions which can be viewed in your "My Settings" page.
I know we can do that, it just gets annoying sometimes to have to subscribe to my own thread. It would be nice if you didn't have to and/or you were already subscribe and could unsubscribe if you wanted. But it popped up in your notifications. That make sense?
It'd also be great if there could be a pop up (just like New Private Message pop up) for when someone posts on one of your threads or a thread you are subscribed to.
It only takes like a second to click "My Settings" and see a list of threads you are subscribed to. The threads that are in bold have new posts.
what if you chose not to let it send to your email when your started? it could have a little notifications thingy in the corner... but then wouldn't it be more like facebook? =D