Lurkers

[Horton]

This was written by the guy that designed the software that makes this forum happen. 

If you don’t know what a “lurker” is, it’s a person who spends time on forums reading what others say, but they never say anything themselves. I’ve been on forums where we realize that a member has visited the forum hundreds of times but has never once said a word. Eventually other members notice that these people are “lurking” on the forum, and they’ll “call them out”, demanding that they take part. To regular forum contributors, it’s basically the equivalent of stalking, and it’s damn creepy.

Why do lurkers exist? The answer is simple: forum culture is intimidating.

If you’re the new kid in town, your first day at school is terrifying. You don’t speak the same slang as the other kids, they all have inside jokes, and they can be downright cruel to outsiders. Every different forum has it’s own language, it’s own rules, it’s own law.

But the with these intense forum cultures comes an amazing camaraderie. If you manage to breach the walls of a forum’s culture and are welcomed into the inner circle, the friendships you make can be life-long. And the truly fascinating thing is that you may never even see these people in the flesh.

Of course there are exceptions, I’ve been witness to many people meeting on my forums that have later married each other. I’ve seen forum members fly from all across the globe just to meet each other in real life just to get absolutely obliterated drunk. I’ve personally attended forum meetups in New York, Toronto, and London.

Why, after all, do lurkers lurk? Is it because they enjoy watching from behind the safety of the warm glow of their computer screens? No, they are lurking because they want to learn the culture before they dip their feet in the water. They want to be welcomed into the fold, and in my experience, once they’ve gotten their feet wet, they’re ready for a swim.

[KG]

You can learn allot lurking on here, I know!! lol

[TeamWally]

Lurking at the  end of Adobe in my Motorhome. Find me if you can :)

[Deke]

Hello, my name is Deke.

 

[long pause] ... I'm a lurker

 

:-)

[slalom frog]

Hi everyone-

Really enjoy the site and visit it quite often even though my visit count doesn't show it.  I guess I'm not logged in on the computers that I "lurk" from.  Anyways, I have a whopping 1 comment.  Why?  Probably because I'm getting a feel for the interaction on the site and often I don't feel that I have much to add to the discussion at hand.  Also, I'm way up in the northeast of the country and the whole watersports scene is not quite as intense as it seems to be in other areas of the country so I'm not really involved in any tournaments.  I do a ton of slalom in the course that I set up on my public lake and when not skiing slalom I'l  work on my tricking (does that get me banished?).

Long story made short, I think it takes a little while before one feels like they "fit in".  Certainly not trying to "lurk" in a creepy way. 

Mike - Slalom Frog

[davemac]

Okay, okay...Hi, my name is Dave.......  I am also a Lurker, but hope one day to be considered a "recovering lurker"...  once I am able to master this 6 buoy program.

Honestly, Kudos to a great site,  much "high end" knowledge &  expertise on here (complimented w/ ample humor).  42 and getting back into slalom after a long layoff.... and luvin it (as do my young kids). I might even have to make the leap  and buy my Radar a caliper for Christmas :-)  

Dave (N.E.)

[Bulldog]

slight lurker as well only a few posts...... site rocks only wishing for more ski time to have more to say......

[Dirt]

Welcome everyone, except Horton. I guess we let him comment because it is his website. Try to ignore him anyway. Congrats skidawg on tying the record! Horton will be sending you a second shirt for your new record.

[Weappa]

I post very infrequently (like once or twice a year) but read the site regularly for news, tips, etc.  And one of my favorite songs of all time is Psycho Killer. fa fa fa fa fa

[ForrestGump]

Yes, we let Horton have a pass because we feel sorry for him. And it is his site, I guess.

There's no reason to feel intimidated by this forum. These guys are all great. We're here to learn and support skiing.

There was a small BOS gathering at JD's place near Shreveport this past weekend. There were about 8-10 BOS members and their SO's there. Some drove 1000 miles to get there. Some drove 300 miles. Some woke up and walked outside and they were present. LOL It was great getting to put faces to names I've chatted with on these and other forums for the last year or so. I am at the bottom of the rung when comparing ski skill to the others in attendance. None of the group acts like they're better than anyone else, though. You gotta be able to take a fair amount of punishment, because there is plenty to go around! Just look at the photo posted of MS in the WTH is he doing thread. lol

I'm fairly positive I'm not marrying or moving in with any of the other BOS hoodlums, though, Horton.

[jlittle]

I'm a lurker.  I suppose I should post more but seldom find the time.  Probably should make the time.  Is that a bad thing?

I do read because, first & formost, this is good entertainment.  I have met MS, jdarwin & MAD11(I think) at the spring 2008 6rnd tourney at the Ski Ranch.  They probably don't rememeber but it was a fun event and for me to get to ski that early in the year was a plus.  I also know richarddoane and Officer Friendly as they treated me to nice day skiing earlier this year.  I met eleeski at a tourney in late June this year. 

I really don't know what I could contribute as I'm not near as funny as most characters on this site.  I suppose I could review the early serial numbered Z7 I skied this year vs the late model serial numbered ski, after they changed things a smidge, but most of the Z7 has been covered already.

Sure I have opinons about skis I ridden over the last few years.  But my main thought is I could beat any of them into submission and be making all my current mistakes with all of them.  It's the whole idea of... "it's not the arrow, it's the indian" analogy.  But skis have come along way in the last 10 years for sure.  Even the last 5.

All that aside, I do enjoy visiting here and thank Horton for hosting.

Jim - back to lurking

[eleeski]

Horton wishes I was a lurker!

 It's "Psycho ckicken, bok bok bok bok".  Weird Al's cover I think. Just trying to intimidate!

Eric

[Horton]

For the record: I do not mind the lurkers but want to let you know that the water is warm . . . jump in.

[DaveD]

John,

I'm turning into a lurker because I can barely keep up with all the reading.  Is it my lack of time or has the number of postings gone through the roof lately?  Dave

[Horton]

Total site visits - double digit growth last 8 month. 20% or better last 5. I think Sept is going to be only 10%. So yes the site is getting bigger at a scary rate.

Stats are top of my head - I did not check exact #s

[Weappa]

Eric - most of us know you, pretty hard to be intimidated 

[ForrestGump]

Owwww! Who needs enemy's when you have your friends. lol

[Donski]

How about some BOS Lurker T shirts?

[Horton]

Buy the current one first and we will talk . . .

[adam]

I'd like to know how the water got warm.

[kpickett]

I've posted 33 times, so I guess that's not a lurker, but I still don't think anyone here knows who I am though...

 

I read the site a couple times a day.

[RichardDoane]

That's why Offc.Friendly  came up with the "virtual tournament" thing, to put names/faces/skiing styles together.  Where do you ski ?

[kpickett]

Yeah. I like the virtual tournament thing. I'm a member at Villa Lagos, near Red Bluff, CA. I'd go out and video for the virtual tourney this weekend, except Villa Lagos is hosting the INT Western Regionals, so the lake is going to be busy.

 

I just bought Jason Hutchins's Prophesy (advertised on the BOS Classifieds), so I'm anxious to get out and ski.

[MrJones]

adam,

That was funny man!!! No need to lurk with one liners like that. Keep 'em coming. 

sj