# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Looking\_Land](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Looking\_Land](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Looking_Land)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/41 "2003-03-22T04:16:55Z")
I didn’t lurk at all! What the hell, jump in. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/42 "2003-03-22T04:21:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobot \* > \*\*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. \*\* You just nailed my feelings exactly, **Lobot** , and far more eloquently than I could. I started lurking just before 9/11. Reading some of the threads that came out of that is my first strong memory of this board. I registered about a year later - I think my first post came two months after registering. Reading what others have posted, I guess that makes me about an average-length lurker. ---
**Author:** ![Looking\_Land](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Looking\_Land](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Looking_Land)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/43 "2003-03-22T04:24:32Z")
I didn’t lurk at all! What the hell, jump in. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/44 "2003-03-22T04:42:46Z")
I had been reading the columns for a time before I noticed there were boards, but when I saw them I signed up right away. At first I was sort of overwhelmed by all the threads. There was so much to choose from! I’d classify myself as an active lurker … I read much more than I post. But I’ve been around a while. Thanks for reminding me of the evil nazi groundhog thread, **LtningBug**! That was a hoot! ---
**Author:** ![ladycarrie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a3d4f5/32.png) [@ladycarrie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladycarrie)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/45 "2003-03-22T05:13:23Z")
I’d post more often, but am trying to find my bizarro twin first. 'til then it’s lurk-o-rama. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/46 "2003-03-22T05:27:09Z")
A while. On some AOL boards Straight Dope articles were like the Word of God given to the heathens by the enlightened. I once spent half an hour finding and organising article links in response to a fundy’s post about the different races, I sent some 2 dozen articles. Discovered the board and two weeks later I joined. I eventually reached my thousandth post. Lurk around in MPSIMS for it and post, whydoncha. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/47 "2003-03-22T07:40:15Z")
Still lurking and proud of it! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/48 "2003-03-22T07:55:30Z")
This was the first board I had found with intelligent people, having intelligent conversations. I lurked as long as it took me to sign up. About 2 minutes. I haven’t regretted it since. I am sort of amazed at people who say they lurk for days, months, and even years. Why? What are you afraid of? Jump in…the water’s fine! ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/49 "2003-03-22T09:23:15Z")
Read the columns (honestly! I read it for the articles :)) for something over a year, then found the boards. Less than two weeks later, signed on up. And I’d say that of my posts, solidly half a dozen have had some useful information! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/50 "2003-03-22T14:28:53Z")
Lurked for about a year. Found the board through Threadspotting (have been a fan of Cecil’s for about, what, 20 years or so now). I’d never joined a message board, but reading Threadspotting, I thought, “these people are smart and funny and cool. The kind of people I’d like to hang out with”. I wouldn’t have lurked so long, but my youngest at the time had just passed her second birthday and every time I sat down at the computer she thought it was time to play on [Nickjr.com](http://Nickjr.com)! So I waited til she was old enough to not need my **constant** attention (although she has required something of me at least three times in the time it’s taken me to read this thread), and here I am. Never been sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/51 "2003-03-22T14:56:56Z")
I was a fan of Cecil Adam for a long time, since the time I found the first collection of his columns in book form. This must have been in the early 1990’s. When I got my first internet account about the same time (this was BEFORE the web, the first browser, Mosaic, hadn’t been invented or released yet), I participated in the alt-fan-cecil-adams usenet newsgroup. I never had AOL, so I never saw that board. But as soon as this one was created, I jumed aboard. ---
**Author:** ![LtningBug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@LtningBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LtningBug)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/52 "2003-03-23T02:56:21Z")
As for why some of us lurk, my reason is that, in general, if I don’t think I have something to say more than what has already been stated, I don’t say anything. Apparently this happens quite a lot for me :). ---
**Author:** ![waddamaroon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/41988e/32.png) [@waddamaroon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waddamaroon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/53 "2003-03-23T07:01:44Z")
Got a computer Christmas of '99, hooked it up February of 2000 (I know, I’m pathetic), went straight to [zug.com](http://zug.com) (highly recommended by a friend), where I learned of Cecil’s existence. I lurked until December 2002. I’d still be lurking, but a Doper I had come to know and respect needed a little help. “Tell me grey seal, how does it feel to be so wise…” ---
**Author:** ![albino\_tree\_frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@albino\_tree\_frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_tree_frog)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/54 "2003-03-23T19:23:42Z")
I think I’ve been registered here a year. I also believe this is my first post. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/55 "2003-03-23T20:19:33Z")
I registered and posted within about two minutes. I immediately gaffed, was politely pointed in the right direction, and have since decided that my Dopiness Factor is no better or worse than anyone else’s. Now I post wherever and whenever I feel like posting. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/56 "2003-03-23T21:31:31Z")
About 2 days, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/57 "2003-03-23T22:00:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey G \* > \*\*About a year and a half. > > Finally signed up to reply to something, but never did. First post came a year later. 🙂 \*\* My scenario exactly. I actually spent months in the Archives, and most attempts to access the SDMB were thwarted since it took 30 minutes to load a page. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/58 "2003-03-23T22:46:22Z")
I was linked to this site from my normal forum and was so impressed by all the erudite posters here that I was intimidated not to join. So I lurked for about 5 months. Then I saw a request for some information - I knew the answer so I joined. I’m still very wary though in case I make a faux pas. V ---
**Author:** ![Animalistic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@Animalistic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Animalistic)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/59 "2003-03-23T22:53:36Z")
I have been lurking for about a year or so. I eventually signed up about a week ago and posted my first post to a thread about (bowing head in embarrasment) celebrity crushes. I finally overcame my fear of “actually posting”, and I have to say it wasn’t that bad. Now look at me, I’m on my second post. Is there no stopping me? ---
**Author:** ![jaclynhyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jaclynhyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaclynhyde)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038/60 "2003-03-23T22:56:36Z")
Well, I first stumbled on the board when it was on AOL…I started reading regularly maybe a year to six months ago. And, considering this is about my fourth post, I’m still lurking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-were-you-a-lurker/163038.md?page=4)