Really that many lurkers?

I'm just lurking out loud .......................

I forgot a very important reason: revistiting a tread that you post to is a +1 for readers but 0 on comments.

I often read a post and not respond. There are serveral reasons to do so: 1 i have nothing meaningfull to add, 2 i have nothing postive to add, 3 i only read the tread to learn/amusement, 4 the subject was interesting but thw tread is starting to evolve in jokes/rants/soapbox/flamewar comments. And lastly, the disussion has already died out and i missed it because i am in the CET time zone.

i do not consider myself a "lurker", rather a "light to medium user".

It seems pretty common - a few of the other forums that I visit (mainly modelling, aviation or airbrushing) list the number of total views & the number of current views. Total views for a post with three or four replies can easily be in the hundreds & at any given time there are often more anonymous viewers (non-members or not logged in) than there are members..... Many will just be people having a look & picking up snippets & will not necessarily be time served lurkers.

I read a lot of threads that I learn something from, but don't feel I have anything significant to contribute to.  Maybe that's true of others, also.

I'm a bit more in the lurker category then participator.

I'm not at the level as many modellers so I tend to read to learn more then anything.

Why is the term "lurkers" used?   It has such a negative connotation.  The dictionary defines it as lie in wait, as in an ambush. I do not think that is the best term.  I'm not real savy about all the internets abbreviations, and this is one I'm not too happy about.  I just come on here to see if there is anything that I can add, usually not, or learn from.  By the time I look in, the questions have been answered and I'm not big on making pointless comments just to boost my post count, as it looks like a lot of posters are doing.   I'm more of a look-seeer or something.  It is a public forum so what is someone looks and doesn't post anything.  Besides, I'm worried that any comment I make will be misinterpreted by the members who post everywhere and slam back at me.  Hasn't  happened to me but I've seen it happen to others.

The sites I like better are those like ML where a question is asked, it's answered and the site moves on, maybe 2-8 posts and they are done.  There are exceptions of course

Doug

I am one of the ones who reads a lot, but I don't post a lot.  Right now, I'm gathering information.  I don't believe that I have the knowledge to pass on, at least not yet.  I am posting on the P-40 group build, as  my daughter and I are each building one.