Utility of alerts, threads and message counts in forum list?

[Elemenoh]

Do others find the alert button and thread/message counts useful in the watched forums list? It doesn't seem helpful to me and could be an opportunity to reduce clutter and make more space for the last post summary, which I do think is handy.

Also, the alerts button and label are aligned in a weird way.

 

[Stephen]

When I visit a new forum I often review these metrics to get a sense of what the forum is geared to. Aside from that, I don't think I often look.