To Lurk
A writing friend recently invited me to join a listserv—one designed to talk about the craft of writing, specifically Middle Grade and Young Adult books. Another invited friend suggested she might be interested in joining, but would rather lurk than interact.
Friends and acquantainces have confessed that sometimes they lurk on my blog—meaning, they visit and leave without commenting.
Overall, I’m okay with the lurkers of the world; in fact, I relate. The word, however, sounds a bit murky—even scary, doesn’t it?
I like to observe and then think about what I have observed. And the whole idea of blogging and listserving sometimes overwhelms me.
And I think—what am I doing, trying to maintain a blog? Who’s reading it? Who cares? There are so many reading choices these days. And when I go to others’ blogs and listservs, I seldom comment or participate.
But something keeps me coming back.
And then I wonder—am I just being indulgent? Finding a place to write—having to something to say, and filling up space with my thoughts?
Am I just lurking around my own imagination? And then writing it down? Are these thoughts just another form of lurking?
I wonder.
Comments
Oh! I’ve achieved the status of FOJ. I like it. Thanks for lurking, Guri.
Yours,
FOG
Jan 16 March 08
Commenting is closed for this article.
I lurk on several thoughtfully written blogs because they achieve a certain intimacy of communication that modern life doesn’t provide.
Guri (an old FOJ, friend of Jan) 16 March 08