Why do lurkers lurk?

[Engi1487]

RR_Mel

 
We also have a lot of posting done by those that should be lurkers and not posting just to see if they can stir the pot.

 

Mel



 
My Model Railroad   
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

Any examples of this behavour and why Mel? I was mistaken for a troll when I first joined this forum, when though I was just asking questions and getting used to using a forum, so I hope I am not an example of a lurker.

[mbinsewi]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

but I don't even know what VRF is,

Sorry, I was lurking this afternoon and just seen this.  Yep, Virtual Rail Fan, I know Henry enjoys them to.

Now, back to lurking. 

Mike.

[selector]

We might need to consider individual's circumstances as well.  Even those with a great deal of experience and who have a pretty nifty layout up and running might be exhausted by the time they crawl to their laptop or PC after whatever dinner they can cobble together, and they simply do not want to get embroiled in lengthy debates, or even to place themselves where they have to argue with someone for some reason.  In a forum where there is healthy debate, threads get lengthy, sometimes a bit testy, and who needs to get into a 36 hour response cycle where you say several versions of, "Well, it worked for me?"  I could see people "on the margin's" of whatever current crisis is taking place struggling to keep up, let alone jumping into protracted discussions about the state of the hobby, or about our hosts' software.

[PRR8259]

Online posts do not adequately convey tone.

I'm tired of certain model train forums where seemingly every single discussion devolves, and there are certain people who to me just exude stress, which I just don't need.

So, whatever, I won't be posting very much anymore anywhere.  I may come on for a quick look, but...

John Mock

[danno54]

Many of the lurkers, like myself, are probably here to gather information. This site is a wealth of information. A simple search can usually answer any concern I may have. I don't feel the need to chime in at every turn. Is lurking a problem of some sort?

[The Milwaukee Road Warrior]

BigDaddy

So why not post more?  Have you been met with unkind responses?   Are there just too many guru's here?  Like my other forums, are you just not here very much?  Are most of the threads of no interest to your?

Where to start.. my posting tends to be seasonal, as in: when I'm on my winter break from work I tend to post more.  Other times of the year its sporadic.  Now and then.  Months may go by and I'm just too busy.  If I were retired or without younger kids I would be around more.

Secondly, I was out of the hobby for a loooooong time and have lots of questions and so I find myself reading more than commenting.

Thirdly, regarding "unkind responses": yes, I have had them.  It's part of life and sometimes people have a bad day and make a snarky remark.  I can live with that.  

What was over-the-top disturbing to me was a forum member that last year took insane objection to the line of one of my posts and insulted me.  Totally unnecessary.  

I had simply shared something that I thought was humorous that other modelers would also get a laugh out of.  

This particular person had apparently lost their sense of humor a long time ago (or their ability to live-and-let-live) and was outraged that I would try to inject humor into the hobby ... because he didn't find the same thing to be amusing; as if he alone were the arbiter of what is and isn't worth a chuckle.  

Anyway, I had previously set up a Flickr account to share photos of my layout progress and within a day or two of this unpleasantness I was sent a message on Flickr that someone (don't know who, but obviously from this forum) "liked" my Flickr account and wanted to link up.  The page in question was loaded with all sorts of pornography.  It was disgusting.

As a result I had to deactivate and cancel my Flickr page to be on the safe side.

It's a shame people can't just move on from things that they either aren't interested in, or topics they don't like in forums, but rather, feel it necessary to still post and "set you right."  

Seriously, if you don't like a topic just move along. 

 

 

 

 

[BigDaddy]

OP here.

The Milwaukee Road Warrior

Anyway, I had previously set up a Flickr account to share photos of my layout progress and within a day or two of this unpleasantness I was sent a message on Flickr that someone (don't know who, but obviously from this forum) "liked" my Flickr account and wanted to link up. The page in question was loaded with all sorts of pornography.

That's one that's never happened to me.   I do get that on email, and facebook.  On facebook I had a week of requests from people, who, not only could I not pronounce their names, I couldn't pronounce any of their "friends" names.

It is tragic that people feel unwelcome by hostile answers.  If I see a first post by a newby, I always them to the forum. 

My inclination is to help people, but sometimes I have been spectacularly wrong.  The forum gurus set me straight and I end up knowing more than I did before.  To Mel's point there are some people that spew garbage.  Isn't that true of every forum on everything? 

There are a lot of threads that go on far beyond their usefulness.  There are others that  maybe important to real railroad, but have nothing to do with MR.

Don't write off VRF.  On Strasburg, you see Strasburg, on the other cameras you see schnabel cars, WW2 hospital ward cars, nuclear waste cars and all sorts of stuff.

 

[SeeYou190]

BigDaddy

It is tragic that people feel unwelcome by hostile answers.  If I see a first post by a newby, I always welcome them to the forum. 

Thank you Henry.

We need lots of participants here, and your effort to welcome newcomers is greatly appreciated.

Engi1487

I was mistaken for a troll when I first joined this forum, when though I was just asking questions and getting used to using a forum.

I never thought you were a troll. I think a lot of it was misunderstanding of your old user name and the misinterpretation of a couple of your early questions.

In the four years I have been here, there have only been two real trolls, and one borderline troll, that I know of.

I hope you feel welcome now.

The Milwaukee Road Warrior

Thirdly, regarding "unkind responses": yes, I have had them.

I have made responses where my tone has been misinterpreted. I have begun to use more emojis now, and I am trying to write in a less rigid style.

My old employer had strict writing guidelines for emails and public posts, and I wrote like that for decades. It is beginning to fade now.

-Kevin

[The Milwaukee Road Warrior]

Good point Kevin.  I think most people have been burned once or twice when misinterpreting the tone of an email or text.  You learn pretty quick to try to assume the best of others unless they give you a reason to think otherwise.  I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt and not judge motives in a knee-jerk fashion.

[PRR8259]

Most people are relatively civil on here, though there have been a few who got offended by something I said and vice versa.  My post was primarily directed at non-MR forums, which have a tendency to get much more heated than here.

["JaBear"]

I lurked for a couple of years before I even joined the Forum, and then I only joined to ask a specific question, and while I didn’t get the 100% answer, I felt welcomed enough to join in, though having read Dave Nelson’s post about Abraham Lincoln, in hindsight I should have perhaps said nothing at all!

Cheers, the Bear.

[NorthBrit]

 

 

And if nobody said anything?

 

David

[danno54]

"We also have a lot of posting done by those that should be lurkers and not posting just to see if they can stir the pot."

My definition of a "troll".^^^ 

Another site I am much more active on has a number of newer guys that troll it just to annoy members. Always with a snarky answer and never any input regarding the old car interests of the site. This appears to be a millenial and younger thing. Real keyboard commandos but never attend any of the car shows to meet the gang.

[mbinsewi]

danno54

 Real keyboard commandos

  That's a good one, I'll have to remember that! 

Mike.

[trwroute]

Now that I'm mostly retired, I plan to post more.  Problem is, I don't have an opinion on every topic, so I only post when I feel that I can actually help. 

This is the only board that I post to, and there is a good reason for that.  This place has the best mix of beginner to expert.  Keeps things interesting.

[JoeinPA]

I lurk to learn and post when I feel I can contribute.

Joe

[Soupy]

Posting when you feel you can contribute is a very good comment.  Some folks, not on this forum, only like to see themselves in print. It drives me nuts when product questions on Amazon are answered, "I don't know." Why bother to post if you don't know.

[Engi1487]

SeeYou190

Engi1487

I was mistaken for a troll when I first joined this forum, when though I was just asking questions and getting used to using a forum.

 

 

I never thought you were a troll. I think a lot of it was misunderstanding of your old user name and the misinterpretation of a couple of your early questions.

In the four years I have been here, there have only been two real trolls, and one borderline troll, that I know of.

I hope you feel welcome now.

 

 -Kevin

 

Hi, Kevin. I had never joined a forum before, so ya my rather long username made me look bad. On reddit and other forums user names in many cases sent to be rather long and overacurated.

I have doing better on the forum since I asked Kalmbach to change, it and feel welcome, so no worried there Kevin.

[selector]

trwroute

...  Problem is, I don't have an opinion on every topic, so I only post when I feel that I can actually help... 

 

I wouldn't call that a problem. It's a good quality, and probably one that more of us should emulate. 

[energizer]

I'm new here. I'm on here every night reading most of the post. when I can't find the answer I will ask. The guys here are great with information.

[SD70Dude]

JoeinPA

I lurk to learn and post when I feel I can contribute.

Joe

Same here.  Quality over quantity.....

[PM Railfan]

Not sure if i like the term lurker, when one really is just reading for informative reasons. Lurker, has connotations of bad behavior.

I post more than read cuz i just love running my big mouth i guess. If i didnt post, then id have to talk to myself. You can imagine how fun that would be.

 

Honestly Occifer, im not loitering.

PMR

[York1]

Soupy

Posting when you feel you can contribute is a very good comment.  Some folks, not on this forum, only like to see themselves in print. It drives me nuts when product questions on Amazon are answered, "I don't know." Why bother to post if you don't know.

 

I've thought the same thing.

Another thing like that are people who rate something one star, and then write that they haven't used the product yet.

[dehusman]

I lurk more now than I used to or maybe a better way to put it is I don't comment as much as I used to.  I joined several forums because I have been a modeler for 50 years, have a civil engineering degree, and 37 years experience in the operating department of a railroad.  My own hobby interests are a bit niche, so I am on forums more to answer questions than ask them.  I have had a unique set of experiences and I think I have information to share.

[VaCentralRwy]

1)   Quality over quantity in posts.

2)   Consider that 98+% of much of "sports talk" radio is listened to by people who never call in. There's a lot who look in to see what's going on