Today in my Digital Media class we had a discussion about what roles users fall into, and they were grouped into three categories:
Creators (People who make post) (About 1% of users)
Synthesizers (People who share and comment on posts) (about 10% of users)
Lurkers (People who look at the content but do not interact with it) (about 90% of users)
In addition to this we talked about the value that lurkers have, and how even if they lurk in one place, what they learn from it may encourage participation and content creation in other places. As someone who mostly lurks with the occasional comment on most things, I'm curious to see how much of Hubski's base is like me. I know if the past there have been lurker roll calls
but I want to know how it works out now.How often do you make posts on Hubski? What about comments? And do you make posts on any other sites, if you don't here?
I'd like to take this opportunity to be perfectly honest. There was an ask reddit thread that asked why lurkers lurked and I really wanted to say it then, but, given my lurkeryness, didn't.
For me it takes quite a lot to build up the courage to comment. I'm just too paranoid of saying the wrong thing and having the excitement of someone replying snatched away with hate mail. I'll usually try to be as neutral as possible. I usually only ask for help on audio engineering and edm subreddits and gearslutz, only when I'm in a real fix. Expressing any part of my personality freaks me out, so i try to stick with the raw data.
Even saying "lurkeryness" as a relaxed form of slang is a little unnerving. But I quite like hubski. For some reason I feel more relaxed around you guys. Although, it has been a while since I last posted here, life just got in the way.
I also get distracted very easily, and find it difficult to properly finish a train of thought. I think of tonnes of things all at once then try to connect everything then and there and it gets overwhelming. I've tried keeping a blog several times. Maybe one day it will work.
Finally, I mostly use aggregators for news, so I'm happy just scrolling through.
Anyway, I'm going to try and come out of my shell a bit more :)
I'm kind of in the same boat. A lot of the time, I really just don't have anything worthwhile to add. This is especially true on Reddit, where I always get to the good discussions late and anything I write will be buried.
The few times I do actually have something to say, I spend ages editing my post before pressing save for some of the same paranoid reasons as you. I'm doing it right now. I'm not just paranoid about what other people might say, but I'm also a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing. These two things don't mix well. About half the time I just end up hitting cancel.
Hey nimbus, I am relatively new here and have been an asshole a few times and I did not get any hate mail! Mostly everyone has something to contribute and I have seen a few threads here about audio engineering issues so I am sure you do too even just in that niche. Probably others too. Go for it!
My posts come in waves as well. I can post a couple of times a day here but then I could go a week without posting. I read a lot of things and when I post, I always try my best to add something. I post often on a site called GameFAQS but I have been going there for over ten years, so it's pretty much a daily website for me. My posting on Reddit has gone down in the past couple of months but it was never that great to begin with.
I've been active on GameFAQS since 2004...it's probably likely we've run into each other over there.
Lately nothing much but a little Crazy Taxi for the PS2. I'm not much of a gamer these days. I'm too lazy to really catch up on the current generation. I first got into Gamefaqs in 2004 because I was looking for FAQS for the game, Way of the Samurai for the PS2. One of my favorite games of all time that I still play to this day because it's short but fun.
I agree, I simply don't have the time to comment each day. It requires a lot of effort, that is, forming an opinion that I know will be scrutinized and read by many others. I want it to stand on its own. And then heaven forbid I comment on something controversial -- because I get in heated debates and the next thing I know https://xkcd.com/386/ . But yea, I find that I comment in waves as well.
I'm a total lurker. I actually do read a lot of content on here, but I don't often feel the need to comment. Sometimes I tell myself I should comment and post stuff more, so I'll interact in waves. But I'm here. Watching all of you.
(kidding about the last bit)
My comments come in waves, I generally don't have anything to add for a week or more and then there's a day or two where I add a ton of comments. Posting is even more this way. Really the only place I comment regularly is the subreddit for my city, and a few other subs for things I'm interested in. I'm entirely not in the 1% of creators.
Hubski has done a great job at pulling me out of my lurker ways. I mean I still don't post much, but certainly way more then I ever did over on reddit.
I mean it's hard not to feel the community when thenewgreen introduces you in a "did you know" post after your first introduction.
I would like to contribute more but honestly most of the time I don't have much to say. I'd rather be silent then drivel on.. like I guess I'm currently doing.
I post once in a blue moon. I generally don't come across anything worth reading and I really only have time for hubski as a work break distraction so most of what I do is lurk. I post the occasional comment but for the most part I don't think what I have to say is worth posting in the first place so I don't. Hell, I'm sitting here wondering if even this is worth posting so...
I lurk here. I've also been a reddit lurker for quite some time. On reddit - I kinda do use the site as an Internet(s) Front Page - I've never really engaged it as a "community" - though I obviously recognize that it is.
When I discovered hubski - I fell for its design and its tone - both of which seem unique to me. The site is elegant and the community is - I want to say, "calmer" than most.
That said, the primary reason that I initially returned to hubski - and then worked it into my online-routine was because of the Personal Content Isn't a Sin policy. I'm an artist - that's what I do - I've long been frustrated by the notion that as an artist I'm not supposed to speak for myself in most communities. Further that - in many places - doing so is essentially an invitation for venom.
So once I found a place where I was encouraged to speak for myself without denying either my nature - or my occupation... I pretty much just lurk. #chortle
This site is one of the first places I visit when begin most leisurely surf sessions - I enjoy the way this community curates topics.
On the one hand, I want to comment to contribute, as I am a lurker, but on the other, I feel it'd betray the point to come out of my shell. heh
I spend infinity time on reddit, and squeeze all other websites into the margins. I like hubski a lot, but I haven't found arenas I'm comfortable enough in to heavily interact with, so we'll see.
I am chronic lurker. I am a huge introvert, so unless I have something to add I don't comment, and even when I do, I have to convince myself to actually do it. Absolutely agree with the whole posts coming in waves things, that's how it ends up playing out for me as well. I'm in similar patterns on Voat, and it was the same way back when I bother with Reddit.
Finally, I hardly ever actually post submissions to aggregators. I use them as discovery platforms, so everything I ever find is usually already posted. The only exception is Techdirt, and I don't think that everyone wants to hear about techno-copyright issues as much as I do all the time.
So I called the 90/10/1 thing into question once on hubski, and either insomniasexx or thenewgreen or somebody came 'round with statistics that seemed to back it up. Do y'all remember?
The 90/9/1 theory is fairly commonly mentioned but I have never seen an authoritative paper about it. Did your class provide a source for that?
I might make a post a week here and comment almost everyday. On voat I try to make three posts a day to this little subverse I created and rarely anywhere else. (3 posts and 3 explanatory/source comments) On reddit I made at about 100 comments a day but it was 99% moderator activity. On snapzu I probably post or comment a few times a week. Hackernews almost never since I have very little to add as I am not a programmer etc. There can be occasional spans of days where I do nothing but observe, usually when I am super busy or feeling burnt-out.
I think you are right but I don't even have an account there any more. Now I just lurk here. :)