# How long were you a lurker? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038 "2003-03-21T05:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/21 "2003-03-21T12:18:55Z")
About three weeks of lurking before I had something to say. I have no idea what that first post was about (the first ones are long gone now). ---
**Author:** ![Stephi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stephi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephi)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/22 "2003-03-21T16:30:03Z")
It was a couple months before I signed up. And I’m still a lurker, really. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/23 "2003-03-21T16:46:45Z")
As long as it took to sign up. Maybe 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/24 "2003-03-21T16:55:55Z")
About two years. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/25 "2003-03-21T16:55:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LtningBug \* > \*\*Of course, just 'cause you’ve signed up doesn’t make you a non-lurker. Take me, for example. I’m at 35 posts (this is #36), yet I’ve been registered for longer than any of you. (That’s 0.06 posts per day, thank you very much!) \*\* I think I’ve got you beat (as far as being registered longer). I’ve been a long-time SD reader online, and would occasionally follow the Threadspotting links, but I signed up to post a comment about one of Cecil’s columns, then never came back until about 3 weeks ago. Since then I’ve been a SDMB-aholic. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/26 "2003-03-21T17:05:50Z")
I lurked for about a year. I’d started out just reading the columns and staff reports, but eventually I began reading a Threadspotting here or there, until I was a regular reader. Finally I signed up and posted the same day. ---
**Author:** ![Hambone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Hambone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hambone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/27 "2003-03-21T17:18:01Z")
I’m still lurking. D’oh :smack: ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/28 "2003-03-21T17:25:56Z")
About a month. I was reading Cecil’s columns for on-line for about a year or so, something in threadspotting caught my eye (I think it was Satan’s ass), so I started reading the boards, then signed up and started posting a few weeks later. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/29 "2003-03-21T17:28:38Z")
I lurked from the AOL days, and signed up 3 years ago but didn’t really post much until about a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/30 "2003-03-21T17:28:51Z")
I read the column for awhile, then stumbled upon the messageboard one day. I read the boards for a few months before signing up. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/31 "2003-03-21T17:31:12Z")
Never lurked. As soon as I found the board, I signed up. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/32 "2003-03-21T19:29:52Z")
I lurked for about two seconds. Fortunately, that was back on AOL and any stupid stuff I said (back then, anyway; new stupid stuff appears on a near-daily basis) is now lost in the aether. Fortunately. ---
**Author:** ![irkenDoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@irkenDoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irkenDoom)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/33 "2003-03-21T19:38:11Z")
I was an official lurker (by that, I mean unregistered) for several months. I discovered the boards in the early spring of 2001, months after I stumbled on [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) via [bored.com](http://bored.com). I finally joined just after midnight Sept. 12, 2001, in the midst of the NYC and DC attacks, knowing there are good people here, especially in times of disaster. I’ve been a member for about a year and a half now, and I still don’t post nearly as much as I want to. I guess I’m too shy even for an “anonymous” message board. Not that I’m uncomfortable around the veterans of this board, but people in general make me incredibly nervous. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/34 "2003-03-21T19:55:41Z")
I didn’t even know what lurking was. I had a question and couldn’t ask it without registering. ---
**Author:** ![Zelski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c67d28/32.png) [@Zelski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelski)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/35 "2003-03-21T22:48:21Z")
Meros, I have a story that is similar to yours. I started lurking the month after the switch and only recently signed up. I originally had issues with work access. Later, when that wasn’t a problem anymore, I was often beaten to the punch on thread questions I could’ve answered, so I never signed up to create that initial posting. The first thread I lurked was The Great God Debate (part III I believe). ---
**Author:** ![Pelleas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e8c25b/32.png) [@Pelleas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pelleas)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/36 "2003-03-22T01:06:54Z")
I’m not sure exactly how long I lurked but it was probably 1 1/2 to two years. Still haven’t started a thread though. Like others have said, by the time I find something I would like to respond to, someone else has already made the point I wanted to make.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/37 "2003-03-22T01:57:20Z")
I can’t remember when I started lurking, but it had to have been around '99 or 2000. The strange thing about lurking is, the longer you lurk, the more intimidating posting becomes. What was formerly a passive experience suddenly becomes interactive. It’s a bit like finding yourself on the wrong side of the TV screen. ---
**Author:** ![mrsface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@mrsface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrsface)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/38 "2003-03-22T02:48:07Z")
About 15 minutes. I’m intrigued and a bit baffled by the psychology of long-distance lurkers. While I can understand being apprehensive about joining in a conversation in the real world, what’s intimidating about this? What’s the worst that could happen? You make a fool of yourself and say something you later realise is stupid? OK, but nobody knows who you really are, you’ll probably never meet anyone here, and if it got really embarrassing, you could just (a) apologise or (b) disappear off the SDMB forever ---
**Author:** ![mrsface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@mrsface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrsface)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/39 "2003-03-22T02:50:41Z")
Wow, just noticed it was my 100th post - rather appropriate considering the subject. I’m giving myself a glass of champagne, cheers. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/40 "2003-03-22T02:54:21Z")
I was a lurker of the archives for a couple of months. Soon I found the message boards and lurked for about a week or two before I became a member. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038.md?page=3)