Was I the Only One Who Lurked?

An observation.

New residents in any community, lacking in the proper context and knowledge of that community, often reach ill-informed conclusions about said community which are usually self-corrected by continued community immersion.

The internet is well known for the "newbie phenomenon," which I will define briefly as newbies who join a board, chat, newsgroup or other community and, without proper familiarization with the community customs and other residents, proceed to make complete asses of themselves without quite knowing why.

This is hardly the norm for all communities or all newbies, but it is fair to say it happens quite often.

The solution always prescribed, thus, is one of "lurking." That is, if one is interesting in becoming a productive contributor to the community, one should first observe the community from the sidelines to get a feel for its culture, norms, acceptable behaviors and other important details.

My question, then, is: Am I the only one who bothered to lurk in Second Life? Admittedly I lurked for a pretty long time -- more than three months, which is above my average. Even so, though, I believe this extended lurking period afforded me much, much more useful context with which I could judge the issues discussed, the character of the participants and the validity of my own opinions.

Indeed, by contrast, I note an overwhelming swell of assertion, opinion and swagger in recent months that is obviously incorrect and untenable, but easily explained by the young age of the poster.

This is not to suggest that new residents should feel unwelcome in posting to these boards -- they certainly should post in search of guidance and introduction. But I find myself surprised by the vehemence with which certain ignorant opinions are held by people who simply lack the context and qualification to hold them.

Now, now, let's not get into the usual "Enabran, you're a jerk, who are you to say opinions are not valid?" Not my attempt at all. I think we can all agree, for example, that a doctor with many years of education and practice is more qualified to hold an opinion with regard to my health and condition than I am, myself, with the limited medical knowledge I hold.

Again: Am I the only one who values lurking, as a newbie and as an experienced community member?

Enabran, you're a jerk, who are you to say opinions are not valid!

Anyway, seriously. I am a newbie, I don't know if I've adopted any ignorant opinions yet (I tend to research what I talk about at least a little ) but I really didn't feel like lurking or really, getting the feel for "what's acceptable and what's not". Personally, I don't really care because forum posters are about 25% reasonable people who won't care about what I post as long as I do so inoffensively, 50% are trolls and the other 25% are just out looking to flame someone (subtle difference between a troll and a flamer). Furthermore it's my experience that "what goes" and "what doesn't" usually is agreed upon by various cliques that I have no problem pissing off anyway.

So what does that leave for me on this forum? I don't always have anything to do in SL or out, and perusing forums and throwing in my inconsequential opinion is a passtime for me. On the one hand I may have mistaken opinions about some things (not likely, I tend to pick things up really fast, but eh, it happens) but on the other hand I have the fresh newbie outlook. Not yet tainted by any cliques or unwritten social rules or preconceptions or jadedness.

That fresh outlook can contribute a lot, if you ask me.

Although I did lurk for a short while, beyond one or two threads asking for help, I just don't attach enough importance anymore to forum on-goings that I try and not tread on any toes, again jaded I guess. That and the forum is a good way to find out who is compatible to your way of thinking and doing things and making new friends, something that can be very hard for the average newbie. Would you rather they didn't have that avenue?

You make many good points in your post, but I like this one the most. I agree that the forums are invaluable to meeting new people and doing other networking -- in fact, some of the people I like in SL the most I met first through the forum, even in recent months. I'd certainly never deny that opportunity to newbies, who'd need it that much more.

I really view lurking as a personal choice, not to be commanded, but certainly appreciated and often helpful for all parties involved. I just wonder how many share that view.

I always lurk for a bit when starting on a new message board community. For SL, I lurked from Sept. 5th to near the end of October. My first post is here:
/120/6f/6062/2.html#post44435

hehe.. I just find it helpful for me to get a feel for the forum community before I start posting. I don't have an issue with others jumping right in, I just personally think it can be helpful to lurk a while.

Since we can read the posts made in the past, what great benefit would be obtained from waiting a few more months as opposed to reading back as far as one can stand or wants to?

Lurking can sometimes (ok, often) be a good thing.

Not so much to see "what goes" and what doesn't. I think it's more important just to see what purpose the forum is serving. What are the views and ideas expressed there?

Lurk to see what's going on. If you really feel you can contribute constructively to it, I think the right time and post will come along for you to dive in.

And don't be intimidated.

So count me as a lurk supporter.

O

Wow.... well I did post when I was new to SL to tell about my open house I was having at my store. I jumped right in and have not stopped since. I think we are all different and not all of us do things the same way when we are new. To anyone new to SL and shy don't be afraid to post

I am lurking right now...

No, you're stalking.

O

I don't really remember if I lurked or not. I do remember that my first couple of posts were to complain about something or other and ask a couple of pretty dumb questions based on not understanding how clothing worked exactly... so, er... I guess I didn't lurk, hehe.

I think it's been great to see a lot of new names in the forum lately.

Enabran,

I am insulted. I am not a newbie and often post uninformed, ignorant comments too!

I posted the day I joined.. I dont care enough to hang around lurking.. if I piss someone off they can say it to me.. otherwise I dont care about unwritten rules and other "in crowd" crap..

I lurked for the first 3 months before my first forum post as well

I'm STILL lurking, haha.

to lurk or not to lurk...

I always say whats on my mind, and the hell with those who think others don't have a right to. Speak up, speak often, it's not like they can break your knees or anything What's the worse that can happen? The kids stand in the corner and call you names? LOL that just shows their mentality not yours. So be a forum loud mouth the hell with those that think they are elite. Ok perhaps in thier own minds they are


lurk? naw speak up speak out tell sl what you realy think
love ya

Cat

I lurked for a few months. Hell, I generally lurk to this day, except for brief bursts of forum posting. It does help one get the lay of the land, so to speak.

As for Invect's post on just reading the history, well, that can work, but it can also be a bit misleading. When I joined prim taxes had just disappeared, but I read the history of all the complaints of that issue and I wondered what the hell I just signed up for, THAT wasn't in the brochure. (Actually, in some of them, it still was, I assume all mention of that is gone now in the Linden docs). But yeah, history is a good way to get up to speed quickly, but not perfect given the lack of an obvious time context. And given the swarm posting nature of these boards, that context can help.

Back to lurking, there has to be some work I should be doing... enh, nuts to that.

I lurk because.. well, because you people scare the shit out of me.
*Clutches her kitty plushie and scampers off into a corner*

I pretty much use the forums as something to read and keep me entertained during lulls in the workday. There's not enough faux office politics here to keep me entertained, so I tune into Channel 4 to watch todays episode of Anshe and Friends and see who is pissed off at whose latest self-government group, who will toss out some insults, and then declare they are starting their own clubhouse and they're not invited. Anyone pick up the lastest issue of Second Soap Digest?.. I read that Prokofy will be returning in Season 4 to announce he's the father of Catherine's child.

In what way is one lacking a "time context", whatever that might be? The posts are stamped in date and time order if you want. The posts that you see start now and lurk for the a month are the same posts a new user would see if they start a month from now and look at the past month's posts.

When I first joined SL, I lurked on the forums for a little while. I would dabble here and there with a post, make a suggestion, and then BOOM Eggy Lippmann would post "DUH! People had that idea in alpha you moron!" I would swear at him and then not post for a little while. It was not until a shy little man named Big John Jade moved into Federal that I found my calling in the forums. Ah, good times. The rest is history, I suppose.

True, posts are date stamped. My thinking was that can paint a skewed picture in the case of necroposts or when one thread of a thread swarm outlasts the others (mutliple threads on the same topic at the same time, where the "discussion" kind of migrates back and forth). Also, as in my personal example, reading the history suggested a major issue that no longer existed. Granted, I figured that out quick and I joined right aroudn the cusp of it, but for someone new to the world it can get confusing reading posts about a world they have lived in for only a matter of hours.

Now, I actually think your idea for reading history for new folks is a good idea. And I certainly wouldn't want any time limits (even informal guidelines) before posting as long as search is used first for questions (though that can lead one astray too, but quicker to resolve). Just saying that the further one goes back increases the chance of irrelevance, and in the cases of interrelated threads with differeng end dates, a chance to not get a full view.

Heh, heh, heh.

Enebran, you used the word "swagger". My esteem for you has skyrocketed.

I always try to treat a lurker who has taken the difficult step of coming out with great respect.

Wow, some things changed, some don't.

I started posting on the SL Forums a few days after joining, and I think just moments after I found out about them. I've been a member of a lot of Internet communities and in the past, I've already done the lurking thing, so I wanted to do something different here and dive right in.

I am sad when I hear of people who had past bad experiences with getting flamed on forums, so they don't post... or they generalize that "all forums suck!" and don't even give a few posts a spin. Or assuming that not getting responded to means you're unworthy, when it could simply mean someone enjoyed your post but didn't say it publically—admittedly it's hard to fill in those gaps with the power of the imagination, though, unless you know who you have to talk to.

Additionally, lurking can be valuable to look up the history of a community and become more acquainted with what's going on. It's also great to ask questions if you don't know, instead of suddenly coming out full-swing with embarassing inaccuracies.

Some people are just quiet too and don't have much to say—it's a matter of personal style. There are some times when I lurk, albeit for phases of a day or so, observing and seeing what's going on.

So yeah, it's good to learn.

I was a lurker in all ways ...

In-game I flew around and attended every non-club/escort event I found. I went to a lot of classes and newbie events, because that was where people seemed nicest. I also hung around the Welcome Area a lot.

On the forums I started out picking people's brains in Design and Textures and coming up with some truly awful stuff. Then I started reading the General forum and Off-Topic and all that fun stuff. I kind of merged with the forums I think.

I used to be drawn like a fly to the worst-smelling threads that are 20 pages long, but now I avoid 'em, mostly.

Hehehe... been there done that. LOLEX...