Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

So, I’ve been a part of the blogosphere for a few months now, and in that time, I’ve learned a lot of new vocabulary. Like blogosphere, for example, to describe the wonderful world of blogs. Or meme, those clever little lists and surveys that pull through for us bloggers on those no-inspiration, must-post days. Today, I’d like to explore another piece of blogging vocabulary: lurking.

[Aside: You know how sometimes you say a word so much that it doesn’t even seem like a real word anymore, and it starts to sound really weird, and it always looks like it’s spelled wrong? That’ll happen with ‘lurk’ and all forms of it by the end of this post.]

Lurking was a concept I eventually figured out in context by reading comments on other blogs. People would say things like, “I’ve been lurking for a long time…” or “I’m delurking to say…” A lurker is essentially a person who reads a given blog on a regular basis but does not make his or her virtual presence known by commenting. Most, if not all, of the blogs I frequent have had at least one lurker delurk in my time as a reader.

This was a tough concept for me to grasp. Partially because I love getting comments so much (so I figure maybe other people do too), but more because the blogs I read so often give me thoughts I want to share in response, I don’t think I have ever read a blog without commenting on my first or second visit. For the most part, why would I continue reading something if I don’t have anything to say about it? Well, I guess sometimes I just like knowing what’s going on in people’s lives. And sometimes I may have concerns that making my presence known would be inappropriate or unwanted for whatever reason. And other times I might get a bit self-conscious about commenting on a blog where comments aren’t a part of that blog’s culture. So I guess I do lurk occasionally. But it’s rare. And generally, I like the sense of having a conversation with people about their posts, and I like when people come here to have conversations about mine.

On one of my regular blog spots a while back, the issue of lurkers came up, and I made the comment that I’m pretty sure I don’t have any lurkers on my site.

… Or do I?

I’ve actually come to the decision that I probably do have some readers lurking here, silently observing, but not engaging in the dialogue. So I’m taking this moment to send out an invitation to the lurkers:

Dear Lurkers,

I and the regular commenters are friendly people, and we would love to hear from you. Come say hello! I’m sure we’ll give you a happy “Hi!” and “Welcome!” in return. I’m not asking you to make commenting on my posts a regular part of your day or anything. Just stop by, give a little wave, and then you can happily return to your lurking.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Lara

P.S. If you don’t want to delurk, I will understand. I’m still glad you’re reading, even if we don’t interact and you feel the need to stay in hiding.

So regular commenters – did you see how I volunteered you to help me welcome the lurkers when they work up the courage to delurk? Let’s make these folks feel welcome, shall we? And while we’re on the subject, do you have lurkers? Have they ever delurked? How do you feel about lurking?

And, the most important question: Has ‘lurking’ started looking and sounding like a made-up word yet?

----------------------------------

Day 7 of LaBloShoeMo: The Pink Kitten Heels

In further hopes of inspiring lurkers to delurk, I give you one of my cutest pairs of shoes. The first day I wore these babies to school, my students went crazy talking about how adorable my shoes were. And I didn’t even have the matching purse with me:

This is the second of the three pairs of shoes I mentioned for which I have exactly matching purses (the first was the tweed ballet flats). Again, the dainty bow in the front is just precious, and a kitten heel gives a dash of femininity without adding too much height. Not that these really needed the added femininity – they are, after all, bubble gum pink. Yes, I’m a girly girl – I loves me some pretty pink shoes.