Lurker?

From: Durightmm at aol.com on 2000.06.22 at 00:43:56(4881) What is a lurker? Is that a friendly term? Sounds unfriendly to me. Tell me I am wrong Joe

From: Jody Haynes webmaster at plantapalm.com> on 2000.06.22 at 01:34:10(4884) You are wrong. A lurker is someone who reads the messages to learn more about the topic of interest (in this case, aroids), but doesn't post any messages. I was a lurker on this list for quite some time before a topic arose in which I could contribute. Jody +More Durightmm@aol.com wrote: > What is a lurker? Is that a friendly term? Sounds unfriendly to me. Tell > me I am wrong Joe

From: Joyce Miller onager at midtown.net> on 2000.06.22 at 03:51:14(4886) Dear Joe, There is nothing sinister about the term "lurker." It denotes a list member who never writes to the list. As a "lurker" one learns much. Best wishes, Joyce Miller, Sacramento, CAAt 07:43 PM 06/21/2000 +More -0500, you wrote: >What is a lurker? Is that a friendly term? Sounds unfriendly to me. Tell >me I am wrong Joe

From: Jack Honeycutt jhoneycutt at uswest.net> on 2000.06.26 at 00:12:37(4921) At 07:43 PM 6/21/2000 -0500, you wrote: >What is a lurker? Is that a friendly term? Sounds unfriendly to me. Tell >me I am wrong Joe It is a old term (in computer years). I heard it first in the late 1980's when it was used to describe folks who would subscribe to news groups. They would read, but post very little. Busy folks who wanted to keep track of a few different subjects would subscribe, but have little time to post messages. Sometimes moderators of mailing lists ask that new folks "lerk" for a few days to learn the tone and style of the list before posting. It is not a derogatory term. jack

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