I "engage" my passengers with a boarding PA, I will pop my head out of the broom closet (737) to say hi to First Class if I have time, and give brief announcement with the seat belt sign.

You can't depend on the company, ALPA, or the Media to represent you. Why would you not want to put your best foot forward and represent yourself?

I agree that constant PAs are annoying. I say let that highly reliable on-board entertainment and internet divert our pax.

However, when IROP is the word of the day, I think communication with our passengers is the difference between a really crappy experience and a mildly annoying one.