Philip Newton wrote:
Perhaps this is a good place to ask the question - is RC "required reading"? [...] Yet it's where e.g. the recent Election was announced [...] So - should I look at RC regularly?
We often have people complaining that things aren't announced visibly enough. Therefore, obviously, we need a central place to do so. For the really important things (like the election), Recent Changes is perfect for that, because most Wikipedians look at it regularly, and then those that don't can't complain they weren't informed ;-)
So the answer to your question is: If you want to be informed of these important things, then you should probably have a look at either [[Special:Recentchanges]] or [[Wikipedia:Recentchanges]] every once in a while (the latter probably usually loads faster). However, it's not required reading if you are not interested in anything that is usually announced there.
Timwi