My name is Oreneta and I am a lurker.
There.
So glad that's out there now. There are probably more than a few of us out there in fact.
What I find particularly curious about this, in myself anyway, is that I have several layers of lurker-hood.
There are the commercial lurks, which really don't count, cause honestly...who comments on a magazine's blog.
There are the plain all-out lurks, on private blogs - as in ones not run by magazines or whatever - on which I only ever read, never comment and am perfectly happy.
Then there are the mega-blogs. What defines mega?... whatever, but if I am scrolling down through more than 25 − 30 comments, I am going to figure I won't be commenting. I wonder if anyone has ever done a study on the tipping point for the average commenter. How many comments seem sufficient. Feels faintly like dolling out Halloween candy. Sorry kid, you've gotten too big, no more comments for you! I don't read too many of these, but I those I do, I mostly lurk.
Then there is that fuzzy land which many of us are in, where we happily read away, probably most every post and only comment when especially moved to. Sort of lurking???
Then there are the blogs that I comment on most every time I read, cause I just like'm so darned much, for whatever reason. That would be my virtuous non-lurking side, no?
What I find weirdest is that when I am tired, or hurried, I lurk more, in that I read the blogs I lurk on first before the ones where I may want to comment, despite the fact that I would prefer to read those. I think it has to do with the blogreader. Back when bloglines was still alive I could mark a blog and come back to it. Greader doesn't seem to be able to do this, so I have to commit to reading and commenting, or wait till I have more time.
Not so sure I like the system, but it's where I'm at.
In what percentage of blogs that you read do you full on lurk? On how many are you a partial lurker and on how many do you rarely lurk at all?
Just wondering.
6 comments:
I think my level of lurking has changed with the years and changes with my own mood. I agree somewhat with the mega blogs, unless it is a subject I feel I have something to say about. There is just so darned much out there, it would be a full time job commenting each time you come across something curious. If I happen to get a comment, I try to reciprocate, a basic form of politeness in my mind. There is lurking, then there is regular lurking. I think if you visit one site often enough, it could warrant a thought left behind.
I take several factors into account when deciding whether or not to comment. Crazy lack of time made me realize that it was not always possible (nor did it always make sense) to comment on every single blog post of every single people I follow/read. I assume that people who know I care also know I'll read regardless of whether I comment or not. If they don't know that, they don't know me so well, so it's not a big deal ;). Then, there are times where I will have nothing to say. Just nothing. Whether because there *is* nothing to say, or because no matter what I think about, it's not gonna help or change anything. And then, there are the blog on which I used to comment, but with time, either I changed or the writer changed, but somehow, I kinda lost interest. I then keep on reading "just in case" something that'll pique my interest will pop-up, and sometimes out of sheer politeness, but I will not obsess over the thing.
When I "get behind" and unread posts stack up in my schedule, I'll tend to process the items with more or less the same priority.
1st the items from newsfeeds or "I know I won't comment" blogs, because I know I'll get through that pile faster, usually skimming through.
2nd the items from the blogs I care about, because I want to take the time to read them and that I'll enjoy reading them. Regardless of whether I have to comment or not ;).
PS: I'm pretty sure you know in which category you sit in my reader :p
I use a method similar to yours. Hardly ever anything commercial. Infrequently on any "mega-blog" UNLESS they come and comment on mine, in which case I am not above gushing and blushing, "Oooooh, MegaBlogger left us a comment!!!"
I do check out those who comment to me, and often reciprocate. It's the bloggers I "know" best who get the most comments from me. As long as I have something to say, and sometimes even when I don't.
If I am catching up, I usually only comment on the most recent one or two posts, because really, who wants to hear what I have to say on posts that are up to 3 weeks old? That boat has already sailed.
Like you, I would love to see a study on this. Surely someone has done one?
I usually comment on the blogs I read most, maybe not on every post, but I try to leave one at least once a week. But I don't usually read every blog on my list every day....I kind of randomly choose a few and go to those and the next day I'll visit different ones. That way I have time to comment if I feel like it.
When I'm new to a blog I usually lurk at first until I'm kind of familiar with it. And I try to visit those who visit me and when I do, I leave a comment to let them know I've been there. I don't comment on commercial blogs or on blogs that I don't plan on returning to. And I don't really visit any megablogs. There aren't really any blogs that I lurk all the time on...I usually can't help but comment :D
I don't think I really 'lurk' on blogs, unless I am misunderstanding the meaning, which is entirely possible. There are a few blogs that I check up on, but not on a daily basis (this one included). That is not so much a fault of the blooger, but more of me and my short attention span. I tend to scan things and move on to something else, instead of hanging around and reading every single word. Perhaps I need to be medicated, I don't know. I do know that this behaviour goes back to Grade School, as evidenced by the teacher's comments in my old report cards, which I still have.
What I DO tend to do is follow links to other blogs, that I find on ones I do read, and kind of keep going from there. Sometimes it gets to be a bit of a lengthy trail, as in one blog leading to another, then another and so on. Further evidence of my strange attention span. Make sense?
I can be the same with household projects - start one, get bored then off to another before the previous one is finished. I am well aware of this and have to THINK about what I am doing and FOCUS on finishing something.
Thank you for listening. :o)
I love your description of the mega-comment blogs. I think the only one I read with that many comments is Jason at the Jason Show. He is just so irresistible! Oh, and I know someone with a mega blog, so I do comment on hers, but never to win the draw!
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