Ever review your blog statistics and wonder about the number of people who follow your site, but never comment?
Every day many of us communicate with each other online at a fast-pace. Creating blog posts, posting our comments, retweeting interesting articles - these have become standard activities for many of us. Yet there is a large group of people who often do not get the credit they deserve, and who may even be slighted by the ignorance of widespread misunderstanding. That silent majority is best identified by the term, “lurker.”
Main
Entry: lurk
Pronunciation: \ˈlərk\
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology:
Middle English; akin to Middle High German lūren to lie in wait — more at lower
Date:
14th century
1 a : to lie in wait in a
place of concealment especially for an evil purpose b : to move furtively or
inconspicuously c : to persist in staying
2 a : to be concealed but
capable of being discovered; specifically : to constitute a
latent threat b :to
lie hidden
3 : to read messages on
an Internet discussion
forum (as a newsgroup or chat room)
without contributing
— lurk·er noun
"lurker." Merriam-Webster
Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 1 December 2009
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lurker
Let’s
discuss just a little of what we can glean from this dictionary description for
the word “lurk.”
In
description 3, we find the activity of our particular brand of lurker…what this
post is all about! From the etymology above, one might mistakenly perceive that
a lurker is somehow “lower,” less important or not important at all because
they aren’t acting. Furthermore, someone
might even see lurkers as threatening or dangerous, asking , “Why are people
just reading and not posting? What do
they have to hide? Why aren’t they contributing?”
Lurkers
may not post on message boards, but it is wrong to assume this equals
inactivity or non-participation. The fact they are reading the forums and
listening to the conversations happening online helps feed the social food
chain. Lurkers often share items of
interest with other people they know offline and draw their attention to the
article, post, or website for further examination. Lurkers play a vital role.
The
magic of lurkers is their latent potential for spreading information via word
of mouth. They may not retweet your blog
link, but if they like it, they will tell their friends how to find it. They can
talk about your website and attract others who may be more vocal online. I
think we should love lurkers. I actually have a very special lurker in my life.
My
husband is a lurker (thank God, he never reads anything I write – he would hate
to be known as a “lurker” and he doesn’t share my affection for the term). He reads hockey forums and the forums on Fark on a daily basis
and talks about what he reads there, sometimes pulling me over to the screen to
view it. He does not see himself participating in social media, though he is (albeit
in a “backstage” kind of way).
Lurkers
help our meetings and posts go viral. They spread the word in person and can
have a mighty impact on our message. While we cater our information to the one percent
of the power contributors, lurkers quietly go
about their business helping to spread the word behind the scenes.
In light of the awesomeness of lurkers, I hereby decree March 19, 2010 to be “Love a Lurker Day” for the interwebs community. (I am not kidding – I even have the shirt ready for you to order today.)
What are your feelings about lurkers? Feel free to share your thoughts, anecdotes, or plans for celebrating “Love a Lurker Day” in comments (or if you are a lurker, tell someone to check this out).
What an awesome addition to anyone's wardrobe! I wonder if anyone will be sporting them at Tech '10? See you there! ;)
Posted by: Lynn Morton | January 05, 2010 at 01:22 PM