lurky mclurkersons.
Do you know what de-lurking is? No?
Do it anyway.
Why?
Because Sheryl says so.
Well, and a fair amount of other people. Why? Because it’s National De-lurking Week.
All that means is that bloggers are looking to hear from EVERYONE who reads their blogs, right there in their comments… not just the same 1 or 5 or 20 or 200 people that comment daily (highly variant around here, depending on the entry.) Not that those people aren’t loved and not that they aren’t enough all on their own. Because they are.
It’s just nice to hear from everyone else.
It’s not just a need for attention, though I’d say that’s a part of it. I mean, if you’re writing on the Internet, some part of you wants to be read. And if you have comments open, some part of you wants a response. It may not be WHY you write, but it’s a side benefit.
But it’s also kind of weird — and I mean weird, not bad — that there are hundreds of people who come here daily — not via search terms or click-throughs from other blogs, even, but from bookmarks — and they never say a word.
Not a peep.
Not even a little something.
Even when you stop by several times a day.
I understand this, of course… maybe you feel like you have nothing to say. Maybe you feel like commenting is just looking for attention on someone else’s website. Maybe you are tracking me for the CIA and you’re forbidden to speak. Maybe you have nothing to add to the discussion. Maybe it takes too much time. Maybe you can only think of mean things and you feel that this would be counterproductive (though I have no idea why you’d keep coming back, if that were the case.) Maybe you think comments are stupid.
But. Hi. I’d like to know that you are a real person and not a bot, just this once. Because you’re here every day, and like that guy in line at the coffee shop, I’d love to know your back story.
SO!
How are you?
January 11th, 2007 at 10:56 am
I’m not really de-lurking since I comment here sometimes…but hi! anyway. I’m fine today, thanks. Did crazy cardio at the gym this morning, now I’m doing laundry, relaxing and having coffee while I wait for my husband to come home for lunch. Pretty basic day.
Just so you know? My sister had a CT scan yesterday and it showed no new cancer growth. The same lesions are still there but no new ones have appeared…we celebrated with sushi and shopping. It was a good day.
Stand by for the newsletter…ha!
January 11th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Is it de-lurking if I’ve commented once or twice?
My body is aching because I spend my days hunched over at my desk. I used to take Pilates but I moved to the ‘burbs and it’s too far to go to my class now and I suck at doing it at home and I look like a shrivled old bag even though I’m a mere 25.99 years old.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Hi Meg!
I get bad about not commenting, I blame it on Google Reader, sure wish you could comment from it. I’m doing good. We got about 5 inches of snow down here in Seattle, so everything is purty.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
This is one of the only blogs I’ve actually commented on before this whole de-lurking thing. I do comment sometimes! Just not all the time. You can see how often we visit? From where? When? Are you sure that you’re not the one working for the CIA?
January 11th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
hi meg! happy thursday. i am doing ok today. i would be better if my feet didn’t hurt. i had to wear the heels today as well as a dress because we have visitors in from Japan. :(
January 11th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
ok, ok, you’ve guilted me into commenting. i actually just ran across your blog from another blog. so this is my first visit. i am definitely guitly of reading and not commenting. mostly for all the reasons you mentioned. but i am de-lurking just for you! so hi! i am tammy! back story would be too long to type, so i will just leave it at that.
love the simple layout of your blog…
thanks for the encouragement about de-lurking, will definitely work on it :)
January 11th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Out there in the open? Me? Yikes, frightening. I do come here all the time and read all your entries and the comments and sometimes I want to comment, like the day you asked for 5 things that make you neurotic, man my list was long, but then I didn’t have time and So resolution for 2007 - quit skulking in the shadows and make myself known. Great blog Meg!
January 11th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
i find commenting on blogs to be very intimidating. but since it is de-lurker week,…hi, Im rick.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
haha! I read your title as lurky m-clurkersons and thought you were calling us CHICKEN!
January 11th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Hi there. I’ve commented a couple times lately, so I guess I have proactively de-lurked. Been reading this site for a little while, I probably found it thru NaBloPoMo. I stop by multiple times daily, since you have new content up all the time! Meg, you crack me up!
January 11th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Hi. I don’t comment (with a few exceptions) because I still have it in my head that “well, I don’t *know* you.” Sometimes I’ve started to answer your sets of questions, but then I get distracted thinking about the other questions they raise, and then I go get a cup of tea.
I think I also have this random fear that someone I know will see me commenting on a blog and then they’ll know that I read it. Which is obviously a bad thing? I guess I’m a little paranoid about privacy on the Internet, even though I’m addicted to it, which is why I have a livejournal but it’s friends-only.
See, now by commenting I’ve started thinking about myself again. Only anonymity saves me from total narcissism.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Hi there. Peep.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Hi. Commenting is a bit intimidating. I always want to say something insightful while being witty at the same time. It’s just too much pressure, so I typically shy away.
I only read a few blogs, but your blog is the ONE blog I can read at work. I guess they’ve deemed it ’safe’. Thanks for being my content-safe blog!
January 11th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
i comment, perhaps too much. and not because you make me.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Liz — that is AWESOME. I am SO THRILLED TO HEAR THAT. Seriously.
Tiana — you are but a young child. I recommend Advil and Tiger Balm.
Ashley — I’m loving the snow here, too.
Stacey — I have a camera in your home. Put on some pants.
Barbie — I feel you on the shoes. OH, do I feel you.
Tammy — Thanks for coming out today! Come back again!
Ponthei — Thank you for being neurotic in silence along with us, anyhow.
Rick — Funny. :)
Lizardek — Bawk?
Merry — Yay! I have seen you comment, for sure. Thanks for that.
Marjorie — Your comment totally made me laugh out loud.
Danielle — Hi.
Shar — I have an obscenity filter in my brain. You should SEE that thing when I clean it.
Liz — I love that you comment. NEVER too much.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Strangely, I commented on “grouchpants” which is weird because I almost never comment and here I am commenting again. Twice. In one day.
There must be something about Meg.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
My secret: I’m a bot.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Frankly, I think I need to be upgraded to hilarious. I’m very needy in that regard. ~,:^)
James–There IS something about Meg!
January 11th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Hi from Coquitlam! Big day for you - delurking, snow, sunny AND cold. Hope you’re enjoying it all :)
January 11th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I hate being told I have to do something, really sticks in my craw, you think you can make us comment, I refuse.
And another thing, could you slow down a little, I had barely finished reading this entry and you had already posted again! — I can’t keep up.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
okay, okay, okay! i’m delurking… haven’t commented in a while. not much to say. i’m surrounded by idiots these days so i love to read your intelligent words. thanks and keep up the good work.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Hello, Meg. My name is Scott. I read your blog. It’s neat.
Mushaboom, shaboom. Still have that on my sweet iPod, and actually thought about checking Feist out. They’re not too girly, are they?
Just delurking. How embarassing. I feel so … naked. But I’m not. I’m fully clothed. Though I am in my pajamas.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Hi. I don’t have to much to say although I’ve heard that ducks don’t have thumbs. Happy de-lurking week, Meg!
January 11th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Yo. C’est moi.
January 11th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I wasn’t sure I was delurkable but obviously I underestimated myself.
Yo. I love your blog. Truly.
January 11th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Okay, I’m feeling guilty too although I have spoken once for sure. I work on a computer all day, I’m tired by evening, which explains why I rarely comment but not what I’m doing back on the computer…
Enjoy your writing, love your pics AND I often check your links. I WANT an iPhone.
January 11th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Hi Meg. I have commented once or twice, and would like to do so more from now on. Especially since I come here everyday and love the little questionnaires. But I guess one of the reasons I haven’t so much is because I have no “web presence”, so there’s no way for you to know anything about me. And I didn’t know how you’d feel about having complete strangers comment here.
But well, if you don’t mind, I’ll chime in from time to time.
January 11th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I’ve commented once or twice. I have to comment because I asked everyone to do so on my site. Who DOESN’T like comments?
:)
HI!
January 11th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Hello, i must confess, i am self employed now, and do have a formal ‘office’ in the basement. When gazing at the ceiling looking for inspiration, stalling, or procrastinating, i read your blog. I have never read a blog in my life until my lovely jenn forwarded me a link to megfowler.com! Imagine my delight, I knew that girl in days of yore!! Despite all my reading enjoyment, i have not had the wherewithall to leave a reply, so this is a first reply to anything on the web.
You are a marvelous clever wordsmith, and have provided me with hours of entertainment and thoughts. (i myself am not wordsmithy.) I have vauge memories of english 8 or 9, with an english teacher speaking, and the confused looks we exchanged, wondering who exactly he was talking to. (wandering eyes??), or maybe it was a french class. I cant remember.
So hello, and write on!
January 11th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Kerry! Wow! I think it was Mr. Davis… ? French!
January 11th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
I think I’ve commented once or twice, so technically not a real ‘de-lurk’! I’m on a big ‘Canadian blogs’ kick these days, and am loving your perspective of life from the West coast :)
January 11th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Hi Meg!
I so much don’t want to be a lurker. It sounds so evil. I still read you EVERY day and enjoy your writing as much, if not more than I ever have. So why haven’t I been commenting? I guess maybe it’s because you can only write “you’re awesome!” so many times before people start to wonder if you’re capable of real thought.
Thanks for making me smile SO very often.
January 11th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
We never had a Mr. Harvey in common? I DO remember Mr. Davis, and my conditional pass (condition that I do not take french anymore)
January 11th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
OH MY GOSH. Mr. Harvey. I took English and Journalism 9 from him. I think his eye was always wandering the WRONG places.
January 11th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
I heart comments on my blog and was thrilled you even visited me! Happy Delurking Week!
January 11th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Poke.
January 12th, 2007 at 2:43 am
Hi Meg, great site. So I’m delurked already!
January 12th, 2007 at 3:30 am
Hi Meg!
This post made me feel slightly guilty about not leaving a comment on any of your posts that I’ve loved or hated or that made me laugh or cry. To basically be touched by something someone thousands of kilometres away decided to share with the rest of the world is a pretty great thing, and should be rewarded with a comment from those who got something out of reading a shared memory or thought!
So thank you, megfowler.com for becoming part of my day :)
January 12th, 2007 at 5:00 am
You’re right - I’ve been a lurker since I added you to my Bloglines feeds. Here’s my official de-lurk. :)
January 12th, 2007 at 6:27 am
Hi! I’m late! But I’m fine, except my knee hurts.
January 12th, 2007 at 7:16 am
I feel compelled to comment, being such a huge comment whore myself. Oh goodness, if only I had anything interesting to say. It’s very pollen-y here in central Texas and your snow is sounding nice. I am sneezy today.
January 12th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Noun
1. a person who looks.
2. Informal: a very attractive person.
Exactly! ~,:^)
January 12th, 2007 at 8:54 am
I just started reading a few weeks ago… since I haven’t commented yet, I’m de-lurking just for you!
January 12th, 2007 at 8:55 am
You know I’m here, but HELLO anyway!! :)
January 12th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Hello Meg!
I’ve commented once or twice, but generally lurk - I just don’t often have much to say. But I think a de-lurking week is a nice idea, since I dearly love getting comments myself. Your blog is wonderful, keep it up :)
January 12th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Well okay, you make a good argument. Hi Meg! Greetings from NC. Nice to “meet” you. Found you via RLP and Chuck’s blogs. Really enjoy your writing. We are the same age, so I especially love your posts about your childhood in the 70’s/80’s..Ah the trips down memory lane! :-)
January 12th, 2007 at 9:31 am
I LURK!
January 12th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Hello!
January 12th, 2007 at 11:05 am
A dark alley. The faint sound of scurrying and a bottle falling over but which does not break. He strikes a match and lights his cigarette. His face is obscured by the downturned brim of his hat. He coughs and quickly drops and crushes the cigarette, remembering that he doesn’t smoke. And with that, all is dark again.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I’m only lurking because I’m sick and I don’t want everybody here to catch my germs.
yeah.
January 12th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Am I the only one who thinks the term lurker sounds like some kind of slimy lizard hiding behind a rock waiting to jump out and scare the bejezus out of the next sucker to amble by?
I’m just saying.
January 12th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I believe you have created a veritable de-lurkathon! I am also a cronic lurker (that sounds a bit pervy) but couldn’t help revealing my presence now. All the cool kids are doing it.
p.s. I adore your blog!
January 12th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I’m a dork. I say dorky things. This is why I do not speak. But I read. I try to become cooler. This is what I do.
January 12th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Author Louise Rennison’s books have a glossary that defines lurker in UK slang as something quite different, but equally sinister. Hopefully you’re now de-lurked by all definitions.
January 12th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Ok, Im a new lurker via Gillian but voila. I expose myself!
January 13th, 2007 at 1:51 am
Present.
January 13th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Late, but de-lurked.
January 14th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Delurking to say hi and thanks for the good reads.
January 15th, 2007 at 7:13 am
Hi Meg - you finally got me, and I have crossed the line to comment. I stop by and read to keep up the info and really enjoy your writing. Especially your blog on Poppa, touched my heart.
January 15th, 2007 at 10:22 am
I’ve comment a few times here before, but you don’t respond to very many comments (and usually only those from folks you already know). On behalf of the lurkers, if you want a dialogue with us, then write back!
January 15th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I wrote first, though:). Thanks, Lem, point taken.