I Hate "Lurkers"
I just finished reading an article called "Active lurkers - the hidden asset in online communities." Here's an excerpt:
"Most communities have 90% of users who are lurkers – people who may consume things from the community, but who don’t contribute...While it is inevitable that larger communities will end up with 1% of their members being very active users who provide enough value for the 9% of somewhat active users, who together provide
enough value for the 90% of lurkers, the largest form of participation in online communities happens to be active lurking, which according to an MIT research study can make up 40-50% of your community membership."
And it struck me that I hate the term "lurkers."
The word makes it sound like you are engaging in some kind of criminal activity.
It's about bringing value TO you.
Now I also believe that every member brings immense knowledge, and I'd love for more members of this
community to share their insight and information.
That's what makes a social network so extraordinary - the diversity of people and the varied perspectives. Toward that end, I heard Chris Dorobek of Federal News Radio once say:
"Most communities have 90% of users who are lurkers – people who may consume things from the community, but who don’t contribute...While it is inevitable that larger communities will end up with 1% of their members being very active users who provide enough value for the 9% of somewhat active users, who together provide
enough value for the 90% of lurkers, the largest form of participation in online communities happens to be active lurking, which according to an MIT research study can make up 40-50% of your community membership."
And it struck me that I hate the term "lurkers."
The word makes it sound like you are engaging in some kind of criminal activity.
Like a flasher or a streaker or a "peeping Tom."
That's why I never use that term to describe members of the GovLoop community who choose to review
content without commenting or contributing to the conversation.
content without commenting or contributing to the conversation.
I prefer the term "readers."
Why? I think it offers a level of respect and appreciation.
Why? I think it offers a level of respect and appreciation.
More importantly, it's not about extracting value FROM you.
It's about bringing value TO you.
Now I also believe that every member brings immense knowledge, and I'd love for more members of this
community to share their insight and information.
That's what makes a social network so extraordinary - the diversity of people and the varied perspectives. Toward that end, I heard Chris Dorobek of Federal News Radio once say:
"All of us are smarter than any one of us."
And it's true.
It's also true that sometimes you just want to read what smart people are saying as it informs your opinions and, ultimately, accomplishes GovLoop's mission of "connecting government to improve government."
So what do you think? Do you like the term?
Maybe this question will even bring out the lurkers...um, I mean, readers. :-)
It's also true that sometimes you just want to read what smart people are saying as it informs your opinions and, ultimately, accomplishes GovLoop's mission of "connecting government to improve government."
So what do you think? Do you like the term?
Maybe this question will even bring out the lurkers...um, I mean, readers. :-)
Tags: community management, lurkers, lurking, most comment, mostcomment
Comment
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Comment by Andrew Krzmarzick on July 28, 2010 at 12:17pm - @ResultsPronto - I think sometimes a conversation runs it course...and people move on, eh?
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Comment by ResultsPronto on July 28, 2010 at 11:24am - Yes... my comment of 4/20.
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Comment by Andrew Krzmarzick on April 21, 2010 at 10:21am
- Hey @ResultsPronto - Got an example?
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Comment by ResultsPronto on April 20, 2010 at 7:44pm
- How about- when a comment kills the thread? Not sure why it happens, but it's not a big encouragement to engage...
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Comment by Cris McGrath on March 1, 2010 at 7:12pm - @Camcgr - there are times when 'lurking' is justified. Listening to a conversation online, in a meeting, passively at a social event is a good way to gather intel on a subject which may prove to be useful or useless and which one may know absolutely nothing about. I would rather listen and learn followed by investigation before engaging and making a fool of myself.
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Comment by Andrew Krzmarzick on February 22, 2010 at 9:01am
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@Amanda Agree that there needs to be gentle coaxing, assistance and whatever it takes to enable people to feel safe in making their contribution. And REALLY glad to have you back active on GovLoop! ;-)
@Ingrid Just joined IDeA Community of Practice and will try to make some of the online conference this week. Everyone, please check out her follow-up post: "Facilitation and bringing the lurkers out of the shadows."
@Tim and @Jay We're hesitant to talk numbers because it's not about numbers. I know, it sounds cliche, quality over quantity, etc...but it's true! That being said, we have set up tracking in Google Analytics so that we can understand the community better. Number of members is one of a healthy community - if it's growing. And we use pageviews to see what content is most valuable to people - sometimes a blog might not get a comment, but has hundreds of views. From the surface, it might appear that the blog is not getting read...but there's always much more than meets the eye! The stats really tell a story when you learn how to look at them.
@Bob - Love Shirky's HCE and have it within arm's reach on my shelf. I don't know if I am advocating for language change as I did in a previous conversation about "social" vs. "knowledge" media. But as @Adriel said below, language is important and I wanted to articulate a philosophical point of view for GovLoop'ers. One quick thing about the social media adoption curve - we've been working hard to put all kinds of stuff in place over the last couple months, including a Go! GovLoop for New Members Group, talking about a GovLoop Mentor Program and creating a special page and promotion for people to become community leaders...so we have opportunities for people all along that spectrum/curve to take their engagement to another level! Last thing: Ranking - human psych indicates that most people like it...but it has pros and cons, too. There's a forum where people are talking about it...and I spent a couple minutes, but can't seem to find it...stay tuned. I'll get you a link.
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Comment by Bob King on February 22, 2010 at 1:03am -
How much of this 90-9-1 is just part of the natural distribution? In Clay Shirky's book "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations" he explains about the power law. (Most of us usually here that as the 80-20 rule.)
Perhaps there is a need to come up with a different word, but lurker has been used for a long time and we may not be able to change it. I do not believe the term has a negative connotation to those that really understand the dynamics. In online forums, I've often seen people refer to themselves as a lurker - usually it's in their first post, when they finally feel comfortable enough to chime in.
So, rather than try and come up with a substitute, perhaps we should focus on educating others what the term means, and that's not a derogatory term. Instead, it's just a step in the socialization process.
Refer to slide 18 of Maxine Teller's "Social Media For Government" presentation which presents a Social Media Adoption Curve.
That curve shows six phases: education, observation, broadcast, participation, relationships and collaboration. Lurkers are in the observation phase - listening (or reading) but not yet broadcasting.
How many potential "lurkers" are not even observing yet? The 90-9-1 numbers are only those already in the community. What's more important - how many are lurkers? or how much of the potential audience is observing? That's the education piece.
Then, as Andrea Baker alluded, moving them along the curve involves gardening and mentoring. Perhaps they are lurking (in some generic system) because the system is not friendly to newbies. While there are merits to having a ranking system, could such a system be intimidating to first time posters?
Imagine someone reading a thread where he/she may have something to add. That user has never posted before and has a zero point ranking. All of the others in the thread are Ultra Premium Elite with 20,000+ points. Could that not be a deterrent?
Along the same lines, how are the users responded to when they venture forth the first time? Most of us have probably seen situations where some new person asks a question, only to have another rude user point out it was in the FAQ and they should have read it before asking.
I'd sign off with "long time lurker, first time poster" but no one would believe me... :)
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Comment by Jay S. Daughtry on February 21, 2010 at 3:03pm -
@Tim Bonnemann I, too, would like to see how these numbers bear out on GovLoop.
@Amanda Blount I believe that my "bad" idea can sometimes lead to another person's good idea, might as well get it out there so it can be discussed and evaluated and add to the process.
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Comment by Ingrid Koehler on February 20, 2010 at 12:38am - By the way - on the UK version of GovLoop - the IDeA's Community of Practice - there's an online conference on online community facilitation next week. (Free registration at www.communities.idea.gov.uk required)
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Comment by Ingrid Koehler on February 20, 2010 at 12:33am
- @Andrea - I agree - those people who asked me to post on their behalf weren't taking the action I would have liked but they weren't quite being passive. They were like the boys in middle school who get their friend to ask you to dance because they're too shy to do it themselves. They want to participate but are scared to take the first step. They were preparing themselves for active membership.
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