Lurkers

[Mike]

Every now and then I see a post online which starts off something like:

‘Hi, long time lurker, first time poster’

Which has me wondering, why lurk?

Is it simply a confidence thing, or is it a lack of content to share, something else?

Did you lurk, if so, would you be willing to say why, and what eventually got you to post?

 

 

[Anonymous]

Some forums I wait to see what the tone is before I post or depart.  Once I have a feel for a forum I post and observe the responses or lack there of.

Then some people wish I would depart.  

[Victoria Dickson]

For me it’s a confidence thing, commenting on someone else’s post feels a bit like butting in on a conversation strangers are having that you happened to have overheard and posting something you’ve done that you are pleased with carries the risk of crushing humiliation if it gets met with disinterest or derision.

I eventually posted because observing TWW made me feel like it was friendly safe environment where anyone was welcome to join in. 🙂

http://crazywargames.blogspot.co.uk/

[Guy Farrish]

Lurking?

I’ve found fora, watched the ebb and flow of topics and wondered if I could contribute something and doubted it for quite a time. Sometimes I have gone on to join and contribute. Sometimes I haven’t. I think that is sampling vice lurking.

I have also joined in a fit of enthusiasm for a subject, period, rule set and then realised before posting that actually I’m not sure what I want to ask in a vast subject, or the answer is there in an faq or a comprehensive post, and I may lose enthusiasm quite quickly. Is that lurking?

I have also watched conversations and thought – there are a lot of trolls/trouble makers/people spoiling for a fight here. Can I really be bothered?

Fortunately TWW doesn’t fit any of those and it is a really good place to be. But if people want to lurk a bit before committing themselves, that’s fair enough. I hope that if/when they do join in, like Victoria, they find it a good environment to be part of.

[TwoGunBob]

I’ve gotten weirder about posting. I want to be encouraging but just putting ‘great job!’ doesn’t feel like much input. It’s better than silence when you post a painted mini as you start think ‘OMG, is this garbage and people are being politely silent?’ I still prefer to try to add some kind of meaningful comment but sometimes I’m just without words.

My general thoughts on life, the universe, and everything I’ve been training myself to be quiet about in general for about the past thirty years. Saying the wrong thing, derailing a conversation, not ever getting to the point are pretty common social hang ups that kind of lean towards me being quieter. Here? You are welcome, we encourage you, we have no misgivings or expectations. Join in the conversation, the more active this place is, the better it will be.

[Mike Headden]

The lurkers outnumber the vocal minority in every online group I’m part of. Indeed many of the same names turn up in multiple forums so the vocal minority is probably even smaller than it might appear.

I don’t have a problem with that, providing chatterboxes like me are supportive and welcoming to those not naturally so, when they do choose to contribute.

I try always to remember,”If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing!”

I spend much of my online forum time on the Pendraken forum. It is friendly, helpful, supportive … and at times completely wacky! TWW often feels to me like a more sober version of the same kind. Which is a good thing, in case there’s any doubt.

Hard though it may be for those who know me in real life to believe I’m actually quite shy. I cope with it by talking a lot. Somewhere in first year at uni it’s as though I suddenly realised that people can’t criticize you if they can’t get a word in edgeways!!

My experience of lurkers suggests you can’t make them talk but you can make them so uncomfortable they leave.

So, here’s to making the lurkers comfortable 🙂

There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

[morgs]

As a self confessed lurker (now no longer?), the main thing holding me back is the lack of knowledge i have in the fields that I’m interested in. Sponge like with all take and no give. Coming back from a 20 year hiatus in my wargaming I’m not sure there is much i can add to the community.

I feel it may be a bit frustrating for the more knowledgeable members to be rehashing the basics (e.g how to paint Austrian white or “what figure is this”) as opposed to discussing the finer details of the truly learned (e.g such as types of bricoles or how long it takes to train a drummer).

So i lurk and hope that areas of interest are asked by others from which i can glean information.

However, I would like TWW to be a great wargaming resource without the added distractions seen in some other fora – thus the impetus to start asking a few questions.

So apologies in advance for any annoying questions that have been asked/answered before.

(any advice on how to paint Austrian white well??)

Morgan

 

 

[MartinR]

Iirc less than 10% of regular visitors to Internet forums actively participate, and of those 10%, an even smaller proportion initiate new conversations. It has been that way for 20 years, human nature and the nature of forums.

Participation rates on Twitter, Facebook , WhatsApp etc are much higher, but that is because they are designed to encourage it.

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Ruarigh]

I’m with Victoria on this. It’s partly confidence, not feeling part of the group, partly not feeling that I have anything of substance to add to the discussions. And sometimes it’s because the topic is in my expert field and I don’t want to come over all “Well, actually …” without having my credentials clearly on display. After all, I have no idea about the expertise of other respondents in online discussions, and they don’t know mine. It makes discussions ‘interesting’ at times. Once I’m wholly comfortable with a forum, I do tend to talk too much though.

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

https://roderickdale.co.uk/
https://emidsvikings.ac.uk/

[Anonymous]

Born an extreme introvert until an incident in my life forced me to assume the role of an extrovert I am understanding that many on  forums are “lurkers” or, I prefer, “the supporting cast.”  Nothing wrong with that.  All extroverts need some to talk to.  

[Iain Fuller]

I, too, have been a lurker and sometimes wish I’ve contributed more and am trying to do so these days.

Even if it is just to say ‘Nice figures’ or ‘Enjoyed that AAR’ I feel it adds to the site as sometimes that might spark a bit of discussion off and can only make the site look more attractive to those that might say there’s not enough going on here. As has been mentioned this place is a nice place to hang out and will only get better the more we invest in it.

[John D Salt]

MartinR wrote:

Participation rates on Twitter, Facebook , WhatsApp etc are much higher, but that is because they are designed to encourage it.

Indeed; and although I have never to my knowledge encountered WhatsApp, the other two seem to be to be strong evidence that particpation rates alone are a very poor measure of quality.

All the best,

John.

[zippyfusenet]

I never lurk for long. I’m here to be an opinionated bore, so I have to post. Sometimes I think it would be nice to become a Larger Than Life Personality, but that takes a lot of work, and I’m too lazy.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

[James Rivera]

I’m quiet by nature and I guess that carries over to my on-line persona.  I will occasionally jump in with a comment but usually only if I REALLY feel like I have something worth contributing.  I also tend to have a bit of anxiety over what sort of response a comment I make might get, so I find myself weighing the potential anxiety against the possible value of my contribution and usually decide just to skip it.  I will add however that the much more welcoming atmosphere here has made me more likely to speak up than at other wargame forums I frequent.  Responding to this query for instance is not something I’d likely do anywhere else.  Thank you all and especially Mike for that.

[Catullus]

After spending my day working with words, I don’t have much inclination to write more of ’em unless I have something useful to say. I don’t have that much free time so interacting on forums is a long way down my list of things I want to do with my ‘wargaming time’.

Chekkit:
https://verpaesquiistucleges.blogspot.com
https://www.instagram.com/verpa_es_qui_istuc_leges/

[General Slade]

morgs wrote:

I feel it may be a bit frustrating for the more knowledgeable members to be rehashing the basics (e.g how to paint Austrian white or “what figure is this”) as opposed to discussing the finer details of the truly learned (e.g such as types of bricoles or how long it takes to train a drummer). So i lurk and hope that areas of interest are asked by others from which i can glean information. However, I would like TWW to be a great wargaming resource without the added distractions seen in some other fora – thus the impetus to start asking a few questions. So apologies in advance for any annoying questions that have been asked/answered before. (any advice on how to paint Austrian white well??) Morgan

I really like it when people ask questions – even ones which seem very basic – because that is what gets the conversation started.  I wouldn’t call myself an expert on Napoleonics but I have got a lot of books on the subject and I like having an excuse to go and look stuff up.  I think one of the reasons that TWW isn’t as lively as it might be is that too few questions are asked.

When it comes to painting Austrian white, I find the following technique works very well for 15mm figures.  I undercoat black and then dry brush lightly with white.  I then do all the figure apart from the uniform coat and breeches which I leave to last.  I use a bright, brilliant white on the belts to make them stand out and then finally I block in the coat and breeches using Vallejo Ivory.  When doing this I try to paint up to the edge of the equipment belts but don’t actually touch them.  This leaves a very fine line of the black undercoat showing which helps to make the belts stand out from the uniform coat (it is a bit like the old-fashioned ‘black lining’ technique but the effect is a bit more subtle).  I then finish with varnishing the figure which I finds help to draw everything together.

[Catullus]

I agree with all of this. I have very few questions to ask and not sure I have much information to offer to people asking. But I do like to see people asking questions. Even beginner questions! We were all beginners once, so it irritates me when I see a certain kind of long-term forum user complaining that such and such a question was already asked on 25th March 2007. These people seem to miss the point of a forum as a place to share information and encourage people. If they don’t want to help, they should just keep quiet and move on to another post. Fortunately, as a relatively new forum, there doesn’t seem to be any of that on TWW. I hope it stays that way.

General Slade wrote:

morgs wrote:

I feel it may be a bit frustrating for the more knowledgeable members to be rehashing the basics (e.g how to paint Austrian white or “what figure is this”) as opposed to discussing the finer details of the truly learned (e.g such as types of bricoles or how long it takes to train a drummer). So i lurk and hope that areas of interest are asked by others from which i can glean information. However, I would like TWW to be a great wargaming resource without the added distractions seen in some other fora – thus the impetus to start asking a few questions. So apologies in advance for any annoying questions that have been asked/answered before. (any advice on how to paint Austrian white well??) Morgan

I really like it when people ask questions – even ones which seem very basic – because that is what gets the conversation started. I wouldn’t call myself an expert on Napoleonics but I have got a lot of books on the subject and I like having an excuse to go and look stuff up. I think one of the reasons that TWW isn’t as lively as it might be is that too few questions are asked. When it comes to painting Austrian white, I find the following technique works very well for 15mm figures. I undercoat black and then dry brush lightly with white. I then do all the figure apart from the uniform coat and breeches which I leave to last. I use a bright, brilliant white on the belts to make them stand out and then finally I block in the coat and breeches using Vallejo Ivory. When doing this I try to paint up to the edge of the equipment belts but don’t actually touch them. This leaves a very fine line of the black undercoat showing which helps to make the belts stand out from the uniform coat (it is a bit like the old-fashioned ‘black lining’ technique but the effect is a bit more subtle). I then finish with varnishing the figure which I finds help to draw everything together.

Chekkit:
https://verpaesquiistucleges.blogspot.com
https://www.instagram.com/verpa_es_qui_istuc_leges/

[Cerdic]

I agree that questions are good. Even seemingly basic ones! Makes people want to chuck in their own twopenneth.

Austrian white, you say? Undercoat in black, slap a load of white on, give them a brown wash of some sort, pick out the belts in off white/ivory. It’s a bit cheap and cheerful but works for me!

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[willz]

I think this forum is the friendliest one I visit, no harm in lurking if you just visit here and get some inspiration that’s great.  As to asking questions about things again I feel the forum is about passing information between an ecliptic mix of like minded artistic individuals.  I kept promising myself that I would write down my ideas on painting, modelling, gaming, or hobby in a note book for reference but never did.  Then I realised that I already do it on this forum.   Keep on lurking or keep on posting as long as you enjoy this hobby and forum.

[Thuseld]

I subscribe to a number of Subreddits where I would be classed as a lurker. I do not contribute because I feel like my experiences are still in the infancy stages and there are often helpful links that answer any “n00b” questions I might have.

Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/

Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com

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