The idea that the board serves a long term purpose for people who never say anything...I am fascinated.

Yeah. Hey, lurkers, please don't take a failure to respond right away as a dis! Sometimes nobody responds to me, either, and I have been here since before the oceans cooled. I would recommend that jumping into a thread which is not Natter or Bitches is probably your best bet for entering the conversation, though: those threads are fast-moving (rather like whitewater)...

Sorry about the, err, dissertation. My opinion, let me show you it.

You were my top suspect for that long entry.

Ha. I figured someone would out me sooner or later, so I might as well fess up.

I think de-lurking is hard, so I can see that working up the courage to post and then not being noticed can feel like a dis. However, so many of my favorite Buffistas have delurked and started participating since I started here, and my life would be far less fun and interesting if they hadn't stuck around.

The idea that the board serves a long term purpose for people who never say anything...I am fascinated.

I lurked for years. I don't know if anyone's ever mentioned it, but you're extremely funny people. When Buffy was on I would email Johanna my favorite posts from TWoP & here.

I wish I still had those. Ooh, maybe they're on my work computer. Hmm.

I lurked for years. I don't know if anyone's ever mentioned it, but you're extremely funny people. When Buffy was on I would email Johanna my favorite posts from TWoP & here.

Heh. I met you once at a TWOP karaoke thing at Freddie's bar in Crystal City--I had no idea it was going on, but the friend I met there was all "OMG! It's TWOP people!". And I was so shocked you knew who we were. ;)

I mean, if you're that angry, why are you even here?

They're probably here for the one or two threads and the group of people in those threads that interest them. I was surprised myself with the degree that the TV threads are as big a draw as the social threads.

I'm disturbed by the trend of "Oh, they don't see things the way we do, they're just bitter and mean spirited" I'm seeing. It's leaning too close to "America, love it or leave it" for me. They say the things they do because they care about the board enough to point out where they think things could be better.

This was my first board so I didn't know about lurking. I just jumped in and posted. Ignorance being bliss. You post something and it gets skipped over then 20 posts later someone else says the same thing and it gets attention. Like the dude in the FedEx commercial. It happens.

I'm very vocal in a number of threads. Other threads I lurk because I find the conversation interesting but don't have anything to say.

It doesn't matter to my use of the board that some people lurk and never post, as out of sight out of mind. But it pleases me at some level that the board serves these users too. And they are there to add to the numbers for Buffista World Domination.

I met you once at a TWOP karaoke thing at Freddie's bar in Crystal City--I had no idea it was going on, but the friend I met there was all "OMG! It's TWOP people!". And I was so shocked you knew who we were. ;)

Oh yes, I remember that well! Er, as well as I can given that I was drinking and there was a lot of wackiness. I think I said something to you like, "You guys are great! And I'm really not totally evil, honest!"

I was weirded out a little by lurkers voting on how we should shape the board, or board culture.

My gut reaction is that I'm a frequent participant in how the board moves, and if you're just people watching, it's freaky to walk up to the person and say, "hey, can you move a little to the left? It's easier for me to be amused by you if you haul your ass out of that sun glare."

Does that make sense anywhere except in my head?

I took umbrage. I now have an umbrage. And no storage space for it.