Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-799579-20130919234921/@comment-11733175-20130920110941

They're global announcements to notify users of any news they might be interested in.

Sometimes they are webinars discussing various topics. Another recent topic is Darwin, which will noticeably change how the default Oasis skin looks and works. This has been included in the announcements to make sure users are kept informed of changes that will affect them.

Other times they might be links to blogs made by staff designed to engage users in a writing project or announce some sort of promotion made in partnership with a gaming company which offers some sort of prize.

I'm not sure of the overall effectiveness of them, but they're one of the few ways Wikia has to notify all of their users about news they feel should be shared with all of them. If you aren't interested in them, there's no obligation to follow the link. I often dismiss them myself and carry on with whatever I'm doing.