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

[Alexis Turner]

As a non-lurker who appreciates the art of lurking precisely because I am so 
bad at it (often at my own peril), I would like to reiterate a point that 
was made on here a few days back in defense of lurkers.

Lurking on a list is READING, and, by any definition I can possibly think of, is 
NOT an inactive process.  Readers are not passive beings.  They are not wasting 
their lives indoors when they should be out playing in the fresh air, and I am 
surprised that so many academics would imply otherwise.

This is not to say that speaking, debating, and dialogue  are not useful and do 
not add to the learning process, as was so well put only a few short posts ago.  
But listening, digesting, and ruminating are equally important, and their worth 
seems often overlooked in our current era which mistakenly assumes that 
"interaction" somehow means "addition."  

Perhaps publish or perish has had more negative effects than we would like to 
admit - we now seem to prefer useless noise that makes us appear active than 
the actual hard work of reflection that bleeds into our lives and works in less 
obvious ways - an intelligent conversation with a colleague later on, a good 
class session with students, even an eye-opening encounter with the grocery 
sacker.  Perhaps we would all do well to be quiet and merely think on an idea 
now and then and see how it brings itself forth in other arenas.
-Alexis


On Thu, 10 May 2007, James Whyte wrote:

::Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 10:19:40 -0700 (PDT)
::From: James Whyte <whyte.james at yahoo.com>
::Reply-To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
::To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
::Subject: Re: [Air-l] we need a better word than lurking
::
::According to advertised estimates, AIR-L has 1700 enrolees. According to my estimates approximately 370 have posted something in the last year. That is a better than average participation according to John Veitch.
::   
::  I can think of many reasons people might not participate actively. But it is only speculation. I want to know, at some level, this population. I don't like value judgement based on speculating about someones intent.
::   
::  I want "Lurkers". I want to get to know them and to make my assessment based on good evidence, instead of folklore.
::   
::  James.
::
::Christine Moellenberndt <chris at inreach.com> wrote:
::  jerichob at juno.com wrote:
::> This thread was introduced because someone didn't think lurking should 
::> be considered a bad thing, and thus should have a label with less 
::> negative connotations, but in the discussion some fairly strong 
::> normative judgments about lurkers and lurking have emerged which seem 
::> to indicate that having a word with negative connotations is 
::> warranted. It's interesting.
::
::
::I wouldn't go so far as to say that "having a word with negative 
::connotations" is a good thing... but the way I see it, this is a word 
::that the Internet community chose to describe these people. Who are we 
::to say "wow you know what, that word is bad. We're going to pick another 
::one and use that instead because we don't like it."
::
::If it's the word in common usage, then I say use it. Why create a new 
::jargon term, when one already exists? ;)
::
::I don't really know if lurking *is* considered a bad thing... maybe 
::frustrating in channels that were once highly active and now are not, 
::therefore needing a desperate infusion of new ideas and new blood... but 
::I'd rather see someone lurk for a while and then participate (like me. 
::hi!), instead of jumping in with both feet not knowing how things are 
::done and causing an uproar that can upset the flow of discussions. I've 
::seen *that* happen too many times before :)
::
::(sorry if someone brought this up before, I got lost in the thread for a 
::bit!)
::
::-Christine
::
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