A Refuge for Lurkers

Last week was Delurking your blog week, but Lurkers (non-posting blog readers) were safe on this blog. No pressure to OUT yourselves at all.

This is my repentance for the Forced De-lurking that I started back in 2003 when I exposed Darrell Dement as Lurker of the Day. He was a good sport, and so were the others after him. But now I have lurkers from countries all over the world, some countries more closed to public discussion of religion than others. And if lurking without getting publicly exposed (either voluntarily like Jordon or forced) means keeping their heads on their shoulders, then I am not about to start up the habit of de-lurking again.But if i did start up the habit again, there would be some great images to use.

Delurk6Dday Button Copy

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Andrew

Andrew Jones launched his first internet space in 1997 and has been teaching on related issues for the past 20 years. He travels all the time but lives between Wellington, San Francisco and a hobbit home in Prague.

22 Comments

  • Matt Glock says:

    Thanks for giving lurkers the benefit of the doubt…
    In developing the new media etiquette how often should one say, “Hello”? If everyone who traipsed across your blog left a mot then you’d have millions and millions of comments.
    Now us small time bloggers certainly don’t mind people saying hi…
    Peace

  • Nathan says:

    Yo, Andrew. Figured this was as good a place as any to say hello. heh.

  • I had no idea there was a word for me.
    I am a lurker. I lurk. Not that I want to be rude, but my mental image this sites is a cafe whtere philosophers gather, and I am the bus boy, quietly listening as the worlds problems are solved while I clean the table.

  • Joe Kennedy says:

    i had no idea it was delurking week, and i still gave a smile and a nod to my happy lurkers. good timing on my part, eh?

  • Innes says:

    Better show some initiative and out myself before you pick on me! Never knew there was an netiqutte for “saying hello”. Learn something new everyday. Anyway, while I am hear…thanks for all the posts that I have lurked through over the last few months. Been very helpful. Innes

  • jason_73 says:

    I am a lurker. Wow, that felt good.

  • rudy says:

    lurking “is” – no matter our views on the subject, people do and will and will continue to lurk… i don’t see any problem, nor do i have a concern. As for ill-intentioned lurkers scouring for things to use against the blogger, well, we are free to blog or not to blog… also, i’ve found that, eventually, lurkers get identified… it may take a while, but you eventually find out who visits a/your blog and even why they do so

  • I’ll gladly delurk!
    I’m Seattlejo from Seattle Washington. I stumbled upon your page from Karen Ward’s page and you are now a regular read.

  • Stacey says:

    Who knew? Like others I didn’t know there even was a word for this! Boy am I glad I left a comment the other day and thus have shone my face. =) From a fellow journey-er in Ireland.

  • whitney says:

    yes…i too am a lurker, but not just on line i feel i lurk in all places. it’s kinda fun. i also just don’t feel i have much to say on many blogs. and you andrew it just makes me feel a wee bit closer to you and your family even if i have no clue what you are talking about. Love you guys.

  • Mark Longhurst says:

    hey, yeah, i didn’t even know what lurking was, nor would i characterize myself as doing it, but there’s no running from it. i’m just getting into missiology and things emerging, and i’ve found myself going back to this site repeatedly over the past week. thanks andrew!

  • dave says:

    I haven’t been a regular reader, but I’ll out myself as a lurker.
    I tend to assume that bloggers don’t necessarily want my ill-considered remarks cluttering up their page!

  • Studyhound says:

    Mine name is studyhound…..and I am a lurker…
    < / now returning to the anonmity of cyberspace>

  • impleri says:

    i rather enjoy lurking.

  • Sorry for lurking – I enjoy reading your stuff but my potential comments seem so insignificant. I can hardly keep up reading your posts, let alone responding to them 😉

  • Shane Chubbs says:

    I visit about once every other month.
    Does commenting here mean I’m no longer a lurker? Oh, No!!

  • keith says:

    Forgive me for I have sinned…I have lurked in the tallskinnykiwi shadows for about a year. Now loud and proud I am coming out of the closet.
    I really enjoy your blog, especially at work through my reader (ssshhhh…I’m not jumping out of the closet that much). Unfortunately I know that my measely comments can’t compare with the knowledge you disperse through your posts….
    Now that I am out of the closet I will fasten my super delurker cape and leave comments all over the web 2.0 world….
    seriously tho…keep up the FANTASTIC work!

  • Stephanie says:

    Consider me uncovered – now can I go back to lurking happily along? This site fascinates me but allows me to just quietly nod along!
    S

  • Margaret says:

    I’m trying to work up some genuine repentance for reading and learning from your blog, but I haven’t been able to do that just yet. However, once I do I promise to repent as I strive to worship – in Spirit & in Truth. In the meantime Andrew, I hope you will forgive me.
    As this is de-lurking week I guess I’ll have to do the same for all the other fascinating emergent, missional folks…sigh. And I so much enjoyed it without being compelled to comment upon every statement that tickles my fancy. If I wanted to comment that much, I think I’d just have my own blog. As it is, I’ll strive to comment more – as long as it doesn’t become reading less. For now – many, many thanks for serving as one of my teachers.

  • dcypl says:

    For all the lurkers out there, I’ve been one in the past, but now feel myself to be sufficiently reformed to say, “your comments are welcomed and are part of what the blogosphere is about”. Well that’s my two cents worth anyway.
    I like the idea of moderating comments, (some software like drupal has modules for this), which can give comments a ranking. Readers can choose to read the lot, or those which are above a certain score, or are from registered users, etc.
    Andrew, keep exposing the lurkers!

  • Paul Bowman says:

    I’ve commented maybe 2 or 3 times, so I guess that classifies me as a semi-lurker, but primarily a lurker. Thanks for a great blog worth regularly coming back to!

  • Robin M. says:

    I think of myself as an occasional observer.
    Better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to open my mouth and remove all doubt.

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