Delurking is Delightful!
I’m about five months too late on this one.
I am not talking about Cinco de Mayo, which is a big deal around my neck of the woods.
I’m also not talking about tonight’s Super Moon, which had me scared I was going to go into premature labor simply due to that humongous, beautiful moon’s gravitational pull.
It’s National Delurking Day. It officially happened in January, but you know me, I’m a little late for the boat most days. That’s why I give Christmas presents in June most years.
Not familiar with the concept of lurking?
According to Urban Dictionary: “Lurk – To read without commenting or contributing, therefore effectively invisible to the rest of the group or community.”
The majority of blog readers are lurkers… and that’s ok! It’s my job to write something that challenges you enough to go through the process of filling in the boxes and writing your comment (or posting a like or response on Facebook).
I like lurkers! But… I’m also in this writing thing to build relationships and I’d like to know why you’re here, what brings you back, and what you wish I’d write about!
Plus, commenting is a very crucial part of the blogging process. It’s kind of like tipping your waiter… it’s just a good thing to do to keep up the social harmony of the world. Bumble bees produce more honey in direct proportion to the number of comments posted on blogs around the world.
OK. I made that up. Bumble bees don’t make honey. They also aren’t aerodynamically sound and shouldn’t be capable of flight. That’s not the point. I’m talking about stopping the lurker insanity.
I assure you, lurkers are always welcome here at StealingFaith! I, however, have made a commitment to comment at least one out of every three times I visit the blogs I read regularly. I’d love it if you adopted a similar standard!
So, if you’ve been around here for awhile but not really said much, let me know! If you comment all the time, keep it up!
If you need a writing prompt to introduce yourself, here are some questions to answer (answer them all or answer your favorite or just say, “Hi. My name is _______ and I read StealingFaith because ________.”).
1. How did you find StealingFaith the first time?
2. What other blogs do you read?
3. What topic do you wish I’d blog about?
4. Does the toilet paper need to hang from the top or the bottom of the holder? (Over or under?)
5. Where are you from and what do you like best about your locale?
Can’t wait to hear your comments and get to know you! Thanks for participating in my tardy Delurking Day!
Getting people to stop and say hi is a full time job, and one I stink at. I kinda gave up. They don’t listen. I love them, but they’re rebellious monkeys. I get a lot of “I don’t know hows!” peppered with “I tried but google wouldn’t let em!” and even a few “I don’t put my email or name online because The Man could track me, even through my tin foil hat!”
It is so discouraging to write and write and never hear a word…I hear ya, sister.
I have an idea: I’ve noticed that on blogs I enjoy reading (and commenting on), such as Owlhaven and Sew Liberated, there aren’t a lot of comments during the week. However, whenever these lovely ladies have a giveaway (usually on the weekends), comments go from 0-20 to 100-300.
Now, we might not have the connections to be able to give away such cool things as they do, but I think we could come up with something cool to giveaway…and therefore lure lurkers into commenting! (Something handmade or brand name that we found for ridiculously cheap?)
What do you think?
It’s not that I’m a lurker. You know I’m here and I know you know I’m here and really, I comment in one way or another frequently. Usually with a text. It’s hard to comment because I get it to my email and to click comment means waiting for a web browsing page to open and the load and the scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page to click into the comment box and then typing really slowly because it doesn’t show the whole line at once and when it hits a wall, it slows down until the beginning of the next line. It’s a convenience issue really mixed with a lot of laziness. I also know that when someone else comments, it encourages others to comment, hence this incredible sacrifice 😉
So, hi. My name is Elena and unread StealingFaith because it is a good way to keep in contact with the blogger and know what those adorable kids are up to! I read StealingFaith and one other blog a friend of mine writes about the importance of Christianity, what I means, and how to practically apply it in every day life. The toilet paper definitely has to hang from the top. That’s not even a real question. There is a right answer. I am currently residing in California and I think it’s obvious what my favorite thing abou my locale is…everything! It’s beautiful and the weather is perfect and we have mountains and ocean. Doesn’t get better than that.
Thanks for writing. It means something 🙂
I am a lurker…but I love stealingfaith and the TP has to go from the top! My HS english teacher/writer is just getting starting blogging and I thought you might enjoy her blog. Here is a link to her most recent post http://www.koniatencio.com/?p=118
Thanks, Lorra, for posting the link to my new site. It gave me a chance to read this funny post about delurking! This whole blogging/website thing is so new to me, and so it’s fun to learn more from a good writer who makes me laugh. I’ll check in more often. I’ve never been a radio DJ, but I’m beginning to think blogging must be a very similar task…speaking to possibly no one at all, laughing at my own jokes, wondering if words on a page can actually echo in cyberspace! If a joke falls flat in a blog and no one is there to hear it, does it make any noise?!