[Air-l] we need a better word than lurking

[Barry Wellman]

John Veitch gave us a useful post that showed that most people Lurk.
Altho John didn't explicitly say so, the general implication is that
Lurking Is a Bad Thing.
But imagine if everybody was actively contributing all the time. We'd be
filled with noise. (As it is, I wonder about some of the posts on this
list, including mine;-))
I absolutely don't want my 13-year old cousin (whom I love dearly) to
contribute to the Social Networks article, or probably anything else. Nor,
in fact, do I want some ignorant person to contribute.
I am not for credentialism, but I am for knowledge and expertise.

Indeed, 99% of the time, I am a Reader only of Wikipedia articles. I try
only to contribute when I actually know something, like Social Network,
Bronx High School of Science, and Barbra Streisand.

YMMV

 Barry Wellman
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  Barry Wellman   S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology   NetLab Director
  Centre for Urban & Community Studies          University of Toronto
  455 Spadina Avenue    Toronto Canada M5S 2G8    fax:+1-416-978-7162
  wellman at chass.utoronto.ca  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman
        for fun: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
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