Psst, hey there. No, not behind you. I'm talking to you.
Are you - a lurker? Don't be embarrassed, it's nothing to be ashamed of, I lurk too. What? You're not sure if you're a lurker, okay let me explain.
Lurker is a term I've recently learned in a blog context. A blog lurker is someone who reads a blog (usually on a regular basis) but rarely leaves a comment. Maybe it's because you choose to visit more blogs by commenting less, maybe you feel your species-related comments don't fit with the blog demographics, maybe you feel your comments have already been voiced by another reader and lurk off (I agree this is a bummer), or maybe you really need spellcheck like Mommy. I lurk for all of those reasons.
I 've noticed that human blogs tend to have a lot more lurkers than cat blogs. I think it's because cats can join in with little fear of really ruffling anyone's fur. I like Fancy Feast, you like dry kibble - it's all good, no hard feelings. On the other hand, I sometimes feel my cat related point of view might not fit with the blog I'm lurking at.
I bring up lurking because I just wanted to take a minute to thank all my lurkers for coming by. I may not know you by name but I know you're there... If you want to be known, go ahead and leave a comment (I don't care what species you are, all are welcome here). I will continue to try to entertain you - even if I don't know who you are.
I also wanted to tell my friends that I might be lurking more. Mommy is getting very behind in her cat duties. We start strong each day at the top of our list with visits and comments, but by the time we get to poor delightful Zoolarty the comment quality is often lacking (just a Ha Ha sometimes, sorry Zoolarty). So we will be trying to find the right lurking/commenting balance. Please know that we will be there, lurking, whether we comment or not. If you want us to lurk over to your place, please let us know.
We tried lurking - because it does go faster, you can visit more blogs, and see what's going on. But we never succeeded because we always have to open our big mouth and leave comments, hahahahahahahahahahahahahha
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for coming to Ruis birthday party! It wouldn't have been the same without you!
Mrs. OZ, Tintin, and Karl
hehe you are right about the lurking more oh Hooman blogs, Mommas blog gets a few visits but very rare comments.
ReplyDeleteI think there is one category you left out too. I know when Momma is behind she opens like 4 different blogs up ready to read so they can be loading while she is reading and commenting, and she leaves the comment waits a sec then moves on to the next, but sometimes she forgets the stoopid word thingys are there and the comments don't go through, or if she gets them wrong sometimes she does not have the patience to just keep trying hehe
So there is the un-intentional lurker too! :)
We do know what you mean though by the time we get to the "R's" we is a little pooped out hehe
But we have more fun with it if we break it up during the day, like a little for breakfast a little for tea, a little each day is a good recepie! (Ok I borrowed it from the Aeroplane jelly add) but you get the jist :p ;)
V-V
We rarely go alphabetically, because of your Zoolatry example. We tend to jump around. Lately, Mom has been so busy that we have not been able to comment as much as we'd like, but we are trying to stay current in our feeds. Plus, Mom goes to bed very, very early! Before 7pm most nights!
ReplyDeleteI looked at my bloggie pals list and I almost have 200 kitty buddies. Since my Mommy works full time and has a life aside from me (!) it's next to impossible to leave comments on a daily basis. So lurking for us happens. We love it when you visit - comments or not!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great shout out for the Lurkers Fin. We might have to start lurking a bit more, as we (but mostly our apes) are falling behind with all kindsa stuff. But there are just so many interesting kitties out there, it's very hard for us to keep our chops shut and not comment. Maybe voice recognition software would be good? Can it translate Cat? Uh oh, the female ape is rolling her eyes now and hiding her credit card from our busy paws.
ReplyDeleteWuudles
We lurk alot too now. We used to post a lot more, but mom has so many blogs to help us with now that we use something called Google reader. It helps us read more blogs, but it takes just a second longer now to comment cuz we have to click to the actual site, and so we comment less. Plus mommy has been so bizzy with school. But we are always reading your blog and everycat elses too!
ReplyDeleteWe found you bloggie about a week ago and have been lurking ever since. =) Some we can't comment on because we can't be anonymous. What do we need to do to not be anonymous? Is it just the google thing we see under this text box?
ReplyDeleteAshley, Taiko, Monty, Toni Marie and Harley in AZ
Yes Karl I usually have something to say, so it will be hard.
ReplyDeleteVV we have unintentional lurking too, you bring up a good point. I'm thinking of taking off my text box.
G&G two things - 7pm! Boy I thought Mommy was an early sleeper. You seem like you get around alot!
Parker we love visiting you too!
Wuddles Mommy is looking into that very thing... I will report on the outcome.
Niko and Cloud you are going on the lurk list!
Hi Anonymous! So nice to have you lurking! It depends on how the blog owner sets it up but the first sign in is if you have a blogger/google account? If you do then enter your user name and password (If you have a blog just leave yourself signed in (don't log out) and it keeps the info while you lurk.
Not sure on the open ID? If you have I think an email/website you can use Name/Url if not then you have to go incognito. Some blogs like mine also have word verification you have to add in too.
Some of my friends have wordpress or something else and the rules are different. Hope that helps.
Our typist lady is falling down on the job and not commenting as much as we would like, maybe we will fire her, or just give her a stern warning...hehehe!
ReplyDelete~The Creek Cats~
What a thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteWe lurked for ages on a couple of blogs before our secretary finally cooperated and now we have our own blog.
Sometimes it's hard to know what to say, and we're especially concerned about being trite when a kitty is ill.
Our Mom is also behind in stuff and a heavy user of spell check.
It's so hard to find good help!
Ms. P and Cinza
Lurking appears to be an art form. We have tried, but the PM feels guilty if she doesn't leave a comment sometimes. She needs to get over that. Lurkers unite!!!
ReplyDeletePurrs Goldie, Shade and Banshee
We had to spend much of the past few months lurking. We've tried to comment as much as we can but sometimes in order to keep up with the 70+ daily posts in our reader we have to skim some, read some, and comment on even less.
ReplyDeleteKaze
We has a furry hard time lurking. We don't have a blogroll set up yet, so we just clicky on the CB, Tuxie and Floof linkies for the day.
ReplyDeleteThere is an annual internet De-Lurking Day at some point in the year. Lurkers are encouraged to come out so we can see them,
ReplyDeleteMax's mom knows when it is, she usually mentions it in her blog.
Fin, I'm not leaving a comment today, 'cos I'm lurking, okay?!
ReplyDeleteSiena
Darn! That didn't work out as I planned! I lurked for quite awhile when I was blogging on my mom's gardening blog. The Poupounette found us via their tracking system an left a comment. That got us out of lurking...
ReplyDeleteVery well said, Fin! We use a feed reader (just switched from Bloglines to Google reader) and it makes visiting and reading much easier. I am subscribed to a lot of blogs and do not always have time to write a long comment. But I feel like the kitty has spent time and effort to make a blog post, so I hate to leave without leaving any comment. So, sometimes I just write something short. Then I worry that they will not like that I just left a short comment.
ReplyDeleteHi! Sometimes we lerk. sometimes we just like to read and are at a loss for werds. (I know, it's US, mouthy meezers!)We gets lots of lerkers on our blog too. we think that they are beans who just don't haf a clue how to respond to a cat.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started finding other cat blogs, it was easy to comment. Now there are so, so many... I feel bad that I don't comment nearly as much as I used to. I LOVE comments, so you'd think I would be able to do more...
ReplyDeleteI get lots fewer than I used to...and it's because there are so many blogs to read that kitties just can't. But I understand. So it's cool.
I just can't keep my trap shut, so plain lurking makes me agitated. As you might have noticed I often leave long comments as well. With SS's slow typing, restricted time and a slow computer, I don't visit as many blogs as I would like to. Don't know how Daisy does it!!
ReplyDeleteThis was most informative. Never heard of lurking, get accused of smirking, but I'll come back and steal this post for my blog. That's what I do . . . jump around and steal stuff.
ReplyDeleteOh oh, hang your head in shame Zoey (and you, too Maggy)... we admit to the cardinal sin of lurking. Yup, big time lurkers,
ReplyDeletesmall time lurkers, lurkers day in and out. And me (Zoey) I am a double-lurker cause I lurk from my home at Zoolatry and I lurk from my other home at Cat In The Bag (with my dad). We are soooooooo ashamed...