What is a lurker? You like a blog, and you may even read it regularly, but you rarely (or ever) comment.
Maybe you want to admire the blog post from afar. You feel you have nothing to add to the discussion. I can feel that way.
Maybe you've taken a vow of Internet silence. Maybe you are shy. I understand. I'm shy, too.
This week, the blogging community asks you to break your silence. It's International Blog Delurking Week and it lasts until January 13.
This year, a blog I like to read (Happiness and Food), has taken over from the originator of this meme, Melissa Ford of Stirrup Queens.
The badge? Go to Happiness and Food, get it and comment there, too.
Parul, the blogger at Happiness and Food, won't bite. She loves trees. In fact, I can tell you she loves trees, because the second and fourth Friday of the month, she hosts a meme called Thursday Tree Love. In fact, if you love trees, I invite you to come back to Happiness and Food tomorrow with your tree loving post.
I don't bite, either (unless you are made out of chocolate). I'd love to see you comment.
You can just comment below, where it says "Post a Comment", and say "I'm here!" (unless, of course, you're a spammer. If you are, go away.)
I know, Blogger blogs can be difficult to comment on. But, at least today, won't you try?
You can tell me where you live. You can ask me questions. You can suggest topics you would like me to blog about. You can talk about the weather, food, or chocolate. You can follow me on Twitter or Pinterest (see right sidebar), too.
I am honored by everyone who comes by to read my posts. Thank you, if you have commented before. And thank you for commenting today, if this post moves you. (And thank you if you have delurked on your own!)
Commenting to bloggers is like chocolate for many of us.
I look forward to hearing from you today, but, most of all, if there are other blogs you like where you won't you comment on them today, too? A new blogger, especially, gives up if he or she blogs in silence. Won't you make a blogger's day today and comment?
Day nine of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.
Hi Alana, I met you on Corinne's Friday Reflections. I also follow and leave comments on your blog as and when possible.
ReplyDeleteAnd I appreciate it! I had to stop participating on Friday Reflections because of family obligations but hopefully can get back to it later this year.
DeleteSometimes commenting feels like the Impossible Task. I appreciate your effort to get a conversation started, though. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Biloxi, Mississippi. I've been writing for a living since 2006. One day I ran out of new things to say and my writing hit a huge wall, so I went back to brick and mortar. I'll make an effort to reply more often, because I do enjoy your blog. It's one of a handful that I have followed over the years.
On Blogger blogs, commenting can be an Impossible Task. Not that I will try to guess what you are going through, but I think I have a feeling, because I can find it an Impossible task on some other blogs I like.
DeleteI'll post later about the Impossible Task.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to it.
DeleteI'm absolutely not a spammer.
ReplyDeleteI like comments too...but obviously not enough to repost everything to my LJ blog, which is comment-friendly and also contains a complete automatic running file of everything I've linked on Twitter. (That's where the Link Logs have gone.)
I'm most likely to "comment" on this blog by tweeting links to your nature/weather posts as "NY State Phenology." (Some very nice Tweeps who also share beautiful pictures use the hashtag "phenology"; even on days when 50 people retweet the same story I find that page fun to read.)
I know you aren't a spammer and welcome once again! I had to curtail blog reading because of family obligations last year and I appreciate you tweeting links of my weather/nature posts.
DeleteI'm here! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
DeleteI was a lurker for years. When I was a little kid, getting the opportunity to attend (I didn't participate until 4 years after I started to go) meeting about kidney failure and dialysis. Once I realized that we all have valuable contributions to offer, it became almost second nature. (We all are petrified that our nugget may look like gold to us, but barely qualifies as fool's for another.)
ReplyDeleteYes, I do suffer from that paralysis of "my gold really is fools' gold" maybe I just need to be less self-conscious.
DeleteIt was hard to start commenting when I first started visiting blogs. It does get easier to blather on about nothing in particular, but only once you get in the habit of it. I had no idea it was delurking week. I hope you get lots of comments from previous lurkers.
ReplyDeleteBlather? You? Never. I hesitate to comment on your "professional" posts because I have no experience in the field and definitely would have no gold nuggets to share!
DeleteYou stated the honest truth. I stopped lurking/stalking posts some years ago. Bloggers need to hear from other readers.
ReplyDeleteMy post today is ironically about chocolate.
Heres some chocolate for you ....
ReplyDeleteIt's rare that I get a comment form anyone other than another blogger. We trade comments back and forth like a tennis match.
ReplyDelete