Lurkers "R" Us...i tried to be clever....

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

while posting a totally lame post in “IMHO”, i saw how long i have been a member of this prestigious board.

for over two years, i have lurked on the boards of SD. reading threads about who pissed off who, threads with subtle wishes of death upon others, stories of crazy ass & stupid ass people who colour our lives, sstories of the missing co-worker and debates that will go on forever and ever and ever.

but i’ve also learned ALOT (yes, i know its not a word, but i felt like using it) on these boards.
I do have to admit though, half the time, i’m afraid to say anything on these boards. i’ve seen how people get torn down with the witty, but biting remarks (please please please please don’t do this to me on this post. i may cry),or how a thread can go awry on syntax alone and next thing you know, that person is Pitted. So i choose to lurk.

how many of us lurkers are out there? hundreds? thousands? hundreds of thousands??

#2

Keep in mind, vivian, we’re all just a collection of electrons here. Rather gabby electrons, and most certainly prone to zipping off in random and uncertain directions, but nonetheless merely a bunch of electrical impulses PingPonging around the Net. Does that make it seem less perilous to post?

Not that there’s anything wrong with lurking, at least to me. Just think of the rate of hamster burnout if every member of the SDMB were as chatty as, say…

:eek: Me! :eek:

#3

Relatively new lurker here. I find the SDMB a great source of information, and the personal anecdotes and stories are very entertaining. You can’t get intelligent commentary like this anywhere else. I don’t post much because I have little of my own to contribute, and in most discussions someone will present my viewpoint nicely, reducing my potential input to a “me-too.” I had been reading enjoying the SDMB for months before I even registered.

#4

Well, a big Hi to the lurkers. I too lurked for quite a while, but am very much enjoying whiling away the time on trivialities.
I generally just lurk on Great Debates though. It requires a bit of serious time and thought to contribute constructively to such conversations and my life doesn’t allow much of that at the moment. But do watch out for my first thread on GD (sometime soon… eventually… maybe… I think)

#5

lurker here, i rarely post (i was formally known as jwhee). i enjoy the boards, they past the time while i sit here on night shift trying to stay awake. but usually i don’t have a lot to add or someone says it before me.

#6

Greetings, Vivian. Longtime lurker here… I know what you mean. I tend to not post anything unless I’m absolutely, positively sure of my facts, AND that someone hasn’t stated the same thing before --only more eloquently.

But I do agree – its a great place to read and learn, and see another side of society that I don’t encounter in my real life.

Thank you for starting this thread!

#7

Arrrrrrr, yer a great bunch of bloody wussies yer are. :smiley:

Jump in, the water’s fine.

We don’t bite…much. :stuck_out_tongue:

#8

I hate “me too” posts, but I could’ve written exactly what j_sum1 said. Start out with trivial stuff, and maybe, someday I’ll actually have something constructive to add before someone else has already said it.

#9

’ Nother long time lurker checking in -
[ Approximately 3 1/2 years ]
Excellent OP and a good choice of subject.
Hands down, this is one of the best boards out there.
Informative, interesting, and unique.
Also one of the most fairly and consistently moderated boards I have encountered.
Sadly, yours truly is not very good at expressing himself in writing and prefers to lurk and learn.

#10

You seem perfectly able to express yourself IMO, Fitz. I agree with pretty much everything you say.

#11

If the worst thing that happens is that you get flamed by a pack of geeks you’ve never met, then your life must be pretty good. Need some real worries? Have some of mine.

#12

Besides, it kind of goes in cycles. At one time GD and Pit were full of “You hypocrite Xtian!” threads, and now it seems focused on the question of homophobia. Every now and then, GQ gets people nitpicking on trivial interpretations, other times, it gets used as the great troll bttlegrounds.

Even with all those problems, though, there is no real reason to avoid The Dope. Unless you like to post questionable facts or illogical debates.

Remember, ignorance is fought here. Some people are a little too zealous in how they do that. And some are just wrong. But the overall end result is good.

Join us! We need your brains! Yummy, yummy brains!

#13

Stop it, NCB! You’re scaring the lurkers!

You have to gently encourage them to emerge from their lairs… entice them to come up to you, sidling lengthwise and hesitating, then gaining trust and putting their heads on your knee to have their ears stroked…

Then you can club them and extract the brains.

Mmmmmmmmm… lurkers…

#14

But that is the great thing about us lurkers, we have studdied, we are wise to your ways. You will not catch our heads with yout clubs. Ha!
Ouch! Ok, who did that!?!

#15

Um, I’m not even sure about the “brains” part…but I do have butter, does that count?

#16

Seems like a thread about lurkers is a pretty appropriate place for my first post, since I’ve been lurking for…wow…off and on for the past couple years. I finally worked up the nerve to register this summer. (Just FYI, so my future posts will be in context, and because I feel like sharing, I’m a 20 year old woman in college.)

I guess I’ve got the same problem as the other lurkers–that other people seem to express my ideas so much more eloquently than I would. And I don’t want to make a silly grammar mistake and get sneered at. Of course, now that I know there are clubs involved, too :eek: I may go back into hiding.

#17

Look at me, I get smacked down, doesn’t stop me. Come on down, join in the fun. You learn a lot about yourself in the process. This not a twelve step program…

#18

Yeah, beanpod, don’t be shy. It’s safe to come out – I promise. You don’t have to post a lot to gain respect. Heck, having a high post count is no guarantee of superior intellect and scintillating discourse – just look at, say, NoClueBoy.

Yikes! Hey, NCB, that club is for the newbies! Whatcha think you’re… (thunk)

#19

Lurking is fun… A lot of general entertainment on here… a lot of good information. I share when I can. I leech when I can too.

Lurker’s Unite. We need a mailing list or something. :slight_smile:

-n

#20

I used to lurk as a guest, but then I registered. I can’t actually remember what drove me to finally post (yes I could look it up, but I really have forgotten why, and it’s only a few months ago) but I’ve been doing it regularly ever since.