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Twitter
Mrinal Desai posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Lindsay Donaghe posted a message
“Do you have an anonymous blog? If not, have you thought about it? I'm pretty careful about my posts online because of privacy/future employment concerns, but every now and then I'm tempted to start a blog and really speak my mind on controversial topics I avoid otherwise.”
Monday at 11:05 pm - Link
I have two.. a personal one and a dating one ;) - Mona N
I had an anonymous blog until I remembered it was on a shared IP with some of my other sites. I should take this into the Heckle-Yourself FF room. - Chris Baskind
Show 20 more comments
A dating one? What, where you chronicle your dating adventures? ;) - Lindsay Donaghe
i at this point just don't care and will say whatever - Cecil Sandus
I've considered it, but I'm terrible at remembering to log in/out of places. Besides, everyone tells me they'd know me anywhere by my writing style, it would be a lost cause! - Evangeline
Last comment and then I really must sleep or at least try. After an extended google chat followed by a half hour on the phone. I can see why there are reasons to have a anonymous blog and on such a blog full confidentiality. All about sex and entirely NSFW or your mom. I liked it. :-) - Mathew A. Koeneker
still am ;) ..but it's updated once every few months in like lumps LOL - Mona N
No, and yes, have thought about it. Had a rough period a couple of years back, someone wise suggested to me that an anonymous blog was a great way of letting off steam and dealing with the situation. I wouldn't do it today though, too easy to trace back - Duncan Riley
@Duncan, with things like Posterous.com do you think that would be easy to track who was authoring it? You just email your posts in... Create a fake GMail address to use for it. Am I missing something? - Lindsay Donaghe
I'm down to one single anonymous email. Everything else is pretty much spliced in here on FF. I'm all for 100% transparency. I got nothing to hide. Just don't stalk/lurk/troll on me or else. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg
I used to blog anonymously. I don't any longer. Most days I'm glad; some days I wish I were still anonymous. It's not so much "controversial topics" I worry about.... Rather, I do my best thinking/processing through writing. Were I still anonymous I'd be more likely to write (and hence better think about/process) things which I no longer do because they happen to be personal. - Joanmarie
I thought about this yesterday, then I figured I didn't care if people knew it was me writing these things. I decided that I would probably just use a different blog, not an anonymous one. - Rahsheen Porter
I have put some up on occasion. They have their uses. - Soulhuntre via twhirl
I've had a few. It's rewarding for a while. Now, I just try and speak my mind and assume that my future employers will be cool enough to get over it. - Nicholas Molnar via twhirl
go for the full rant in public.. it is attractive.. it is the future.. privacy is an illusion, the privacy an ostrich has with its head in the sand - gregory lent
I don't, but I am not that interesting. - RAPatton
There is no such thing as an anonymous blog. - Ontario Emperor
Ontario, that's not true. Except to people who personally knew me, the journals I kept from 1995 until recently were completely anonymous. In fact, they were written in such a way that even my friends had trouble figuring out if I were writing about them or not. - Akiva Moskovitz
I had an anonymous dating blog. I'm married now so like my old lucky futon, it doesn't see any action. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Good question. I've actually been contemplating writing a new blog that is anonymous that has more about life, love, work and reality. That was my goal for my personal blog, but since I know my gramma reads that one, I tend to leave out all the good details. - Lauren Beyer
Yes. Have had it for years. - Cyndy
I've definitely thought about it -- haven't ruled it out yet. - Shey
I have been bantering the idea around for a long time. There is a lot going on in my life, mostly not good, that I deal with and keep bottled up. I would love to have a place to just let it flow. It would be one hell of an emo whine fest. - Aden
I am pretty out in the open, so I have not even thought of starting one. Good topic though. - Ethan Jaynes
Mine's not anonymous but it may take people a second of Googling to connect my Livejournal ID to my name. - Morton Fox
FriendFeed
drs650 posted a link
Techologizer is up, and Harry has a cool post about Vista and how ignorant MS thinks I must be. :)
4 hours ago - Link
YouTube
Candace Holly favorited a video on YouTube
Pachelbel Rant
Pachelbel Rant
Monday at 12:07 am - Link
I <3 this rant the only kinda cannon i trust is sammus's arm cannon I love the line punk music is a joke it's all just baroque - Cecil Sandus
a great video. I actually wrote a remix of the cannon a while back before I saw this. http://myspace.com/djrizzn. I think it's called Basket Case - Kool Kannon Remix on there. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Show 15 more comments
I'm listening to the remix you posted there. Pretty cool. - Candace Holly
Hold up..Pompano? Whaaat? Fellow South Florida native, eh? Born around Pompano, grew up in Hollywood. Spent my club days down in the Miami nightlife. - Candace Holly
I lived in the FTL area for about four years... then moved back to texas after Hurricane Wilma. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
I think Wilma did it in for me too. I left South Florida the year after Wilma but, once Wilma hit I was like "Ok no more hurricanes" - Candace Holly
I spent 7 years in Miami :) I miss it ! - sergiooo (droffset)
I miss it but I doubt I'll be moving back there again. Too expensive! Ugh the cost of rent of my apartment was insane and I won't even get into the cost on the house. Plus everyone I used to stomp around The Kitchen Club with are now gone to other areas of the US save a very few. - Candace Holly
Same here, too much has changed,though there are still some great friends there, but also there's a place that makes the best, no really, the best fresh Mozarella I've ever tasted. I think it was called Mimi's. Their Canoli are awesome also. We'd fly back just to have that Mozarella, no joke, it's that good. - sergiooo (droffset)
Oh my gosh! Yes! Mimi's in Hollywood. That place was awesome. Every Holiday we would get fresh bread and things from there. Did you ever have the tiramisu? That was the best I'd ever had. - Candace Holly
I haven't had it, but now I'm trying to think of a way to fit in a visit to South Florida :) - sergiooo (droffset)
The Kitchen Club - sounds very familiar. Was that a popular goth hangout, or am I thinking of something else? - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
@Mark - Yes. It's one of the longest-running goth/industrial clubs on the East Coast. My old stomping grounds were The Kitchen, Manray (and later) Vamp and Underland. Sometimes Respectable Street up in West Palm but, not too often. - Candace Holly
I didn't go there often to the Kitchen, but I remember my ex dragging me out there a few times. I lived in FTL proper, Pompano, Hollywood (right on the broadwalk) and Davie. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Hehe you most likely saw me there but I doubt anyone would recognize me in "club" get up vs regular me. I was always in Hollywood, over near Memorial Hospital. Lived in Kendall with roommates for a short time and, Sunrise too but always ended up back in Hollywood. Now I'm curious as to who your ex is, if she went regularly, I probably knew/know her. - Candace Holly
Not sure how often she made it down to Miami without me. She was part of the FTL fetish scene. A fairly shortlived relationship that went out with a bang. Didn't end amicably. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Wow. The Kitchen. One of the first clubs I went to and I wouldn't have it any other way as I never experienced another club like it again. A quick search led me to its MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/thekitc... which had a fun read on its history. - Gus Perez
@Mark - I'll bet you money I know her then. Now you have to tell me who she is if you don't mind telling. :) @Gus - the Kitchen is still moving along. My buddies still do DJ spots and, they still host parties. That place is a South Florida legend. - Candace Holly
hilarious rant. i like the basket case pachelbel mashup too. - Jess Lee
Thanks! It was a fun one to make, though I cringe hearing it now - wish I still had the source files so I could correct some of the errors I hear. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Twitter
Ryan Block posted a message on Twitter
Twitter
Avner Ronen posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Chris Reed posted a link
Kosher Fail « FAIL Blog: Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments
Kosher Fail « FAIL Blog: Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments
Monday at 3:02 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link
Having liked that, I've also known Jewish friends over the years who love their ham + follow Chanukah. Bit like Catholics and condoms I guess :-) - Duncan Riley
FriendFeed
Tad Donaghe posted a message
“Do you make a distinction between what goes on on the internet and "real life?"”
Sunday at 10:34 pm - Link
I don't - I only consider the different between meatspace and the internetz (or cyberspace, but that sounds so 80s). What "space" is this? - Tad Donaghe
Depends. My personal life and my Internet life are pretty much separate. Work life and networking life... not so much. - Jennifer Leggio
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I don't have time for more than 1 life. This is it - all jumbled together. - Tad Donaghe
What is "real life"? Is real life something that you physically witness? If your spouse tells you something, is that considered "real life," even though you didn't witness it yourself? - Ontario Emperor
What tad said. - Yuvi
I think most people consider what goes on in meatspace to be "real life." I just exist in more than one space at a time. I'm transhuman baby! Ain't got time for just one me. - Tad Donaghe
I consider it relatively integrated, its just that you interact in different ways with people and on different levels. - Angie
Nope, I haven't had a "real life" since Linux 1.0 - Rahsheen Porter
That's getting really muddy for me. Most of my RL friends aren't that active online. A few are on myspace, all have email, none are on twitter, FF, or last.fm - Harvey Simmons
Personally, I don't. But some people have difficulties doing stuff IRL, and their virtual lives give them an opportunity to express themselves in ways that they couldn't do before. - Hao Chen
Is there really a spoon? - Brian Daniel Eisenberg
I used to. Separate my real and internet lives, since most of my real life friends aren't interested in what I am... I think I need new friends haha - Mona N
I do have a separation. There are some things in my own life that no one else needs to be a part of save the people closest to me. However, I'm fortunate that my closest friends and my own boyfriend can share in the geekery of the internet. - Candace Holly
Well Candace - just because you don't care to share your most private stuff with all of your friends, doesn't mean that your tube friends aren't real friends. I don't share everything with anyone. :) - Tad Donaghe
I see no difference except maybe I am slightly more inclined to say things i shouldn't due to the fact that people have to hunt you down first to kill you on the internet LOL - Cecil Sandus
Well Cecil..it's not too hard to find someone these days. - Candace Holly
I'm more restrained on the internet, that's the only difference. Online, I can backspace/think things through before I say them. Offline, I'm just hopelessly tactless. - Evangeline
increasingly there is little distinction between the two (for me). That's not to say that there isn't a difference. Many people survive without knowing what a twitter, myspace, friendfeed, or facebook is. I'm pretty sure the same can't be said about real life tools and pleasures. - Jason Toney
For years, I was very careful about giving away anything about myself online unless it was via SSL connection to a single person at a time, and even then, I really, really, had to trust them. Now I'm a bloody open book ;) - Michael W. May
yes, but those barriers are falling. i have my friends and then my "internet friends." but there's A LOT of overlap. and it's hard to explain "this person whose twitter stream i follow" easier to call them friends. - tiffany
It's all real life, to me. - Shey
Welcome, to the desert, of the real. Its all the same to me too. - Parth Awasthi
It's part of my life, and that's real (I hope) - Iain Baker
Yes. What you read about me on FF, twitter, and my blog is a minority of what I'm really doing and thinking. That's not to say my online persona is dishonest, it's just segment. - Jason Kaneshiro
well, I guess the major difference is that for most of us, people in the real world have no clue about what's going on in the internet world (and unfortunately sometimes, vice versa) - Jasmin Smith
Blog
Andrew Chen posted an entry on Futuristic Play by Andrew Chen
Are Web 2.0 startups wasting their time with Web 2.0 early adopters?
Monday at 7:32 am - Link
link isn't working... - John
nice post as always, andrew - Charles Hudson
The feedburner link doesn't work. Here is the direct link: http://andrewchen.typepad.com/... - Frederic
thanks charles! - Andrew Chen
Twitter
David Cohn posted a message on Twitter
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Rafe Needleman posted a message on Twitter
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Michael Gartenberg posted a message on Twitter
Twitter
Kevin Rose posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Chris Baskind posted a message
“I'm busy unfollowing people who don't follow me (I think FF should be a conversation). But why does FF make it so difficult? I want to look at my subscriptions and see who follows back. These seems so basic. BTW, I think I now follow everyone who follows me. If I've missed you, please comment here.”
July 16 at 12:19 pm - Link
Well, if you don't mind putting your credentials through someone else's hand (mine, more or less) FriendVenn helps out on this front. http://ff.deasil.com/friendven... - felix
Felix: Cool tool! Hey is there a limit of 300 subscriptions? I have over 500 people subscribed to me, yet it only shows 300? - Susan Beebe
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Felix, that's exactly what I've been looking for: there's like 40 people that are subscribed to me that I'm not subscribed to, but I can't figure out who they are. Thanks! Edit: one problem, it thinks I'm only subscribed to 300 people, when it's 395. I guess it's missing a bunch of connections? - Mark Trapp
It also doesn't look like it's accurate: I was disheartened that Nick wasn't following me anymore, but I pulled up his page and he is. - Mark Trapp
Hey, this is great, Felix. That's 75 more down. Thanks! ;-) - Chris Baskind
Hey Felix, I picked up the domain http://Follows.Us thinking i would use it to build something like what you have, mainly to have a project for learning a new language. I don't think I'm gonna have the time, if you're interested in it then drop me an e-mail (David at KnightKnetwork.com) and we can work something out. - David Knight
I agree, I wish it were easier to find out more about people who are adding you. A short profile would help. - Cathryn Hrudicka
See, I can't possibly follow everything from everyone and get any work done. I view it more like a cocktail party. I have all FOAF turned on. Some people I come to the party with, and others I have little conversations with when I meet up with them. - Cyndy
It's one thing to comment, and another to follow. I'll see many of the folks I unfollowed -- they're friends of friends (a feature I really like). They'll see my stuff the same way. That's the cocktail party part. Following is different, I think. But the cool thing about FF or Twitter is that it's different for everyone. How you use it is up to you. - Chris Baskind
I see the value in unfollowing people who aren't following you: if the person isn't ever going to give back to you for all the feedback you're giving them, what's the point? How are you going to handle new subscriptions? Give the person a grace period to follow you then unsubscribe from them again? - Mark Trapp
if everyone followed that rule, would FriendFeed become a fully interconnected mesh, otherwise known as a message forum? - Robin Barooah
I don't have any hard and fast rules, Mark (and I cringe when people publish theirs). My list was out of balance, and I corrected it. The reason I mentioned it was hoping someone had a tool to make it easier -- and that was the case. Thanks, Felix. :-) - Chris Baskind
Robin, I think the biggest value of Friendfeed is that people individualize their experience. Universalization of Friendfeed usage just won't happen given the nature of the system. - Mark Trapp
I don't think not following you is a sign that they are not FF useful. Some people are naturally content generators. They generate content which appears here and generate conversation but rarely participate in conversations either about their content or others. Some generate content and participate a lot. Some generate little content but participate heavily in conversations. I think all types of conversation are useful. - Brian Sullivan
Thanks for saying this yet again - I can't believe the folks at FF haven't addressed this yet - we've all been complaining about it since day 1. - Lucretia Pruitt
I also agree a short profile would be useful. I sometimes get people who start following me, but when I go to look at them, they have a private feed. I don't know if I want to request to follow them, or not, because I don't know who they are nor if they have an interesting feed. Sorta a catch-22. - Anthony Citrano
Personally, I try to review those that are following me weekly and determine if the content they are sharing and/or commenting and liking is of interest to me. If they seem to be engaging in similar interest, I will follow back. If not, it's nothing personal, but I prefer to keep the noise down a little as possible. For instance, there is one guy following me that doesn't participate at all and his content is not up my ally, so why should I follow him just because he is following me? - Justin Korn
Chris: I decided to do the same thing the other day. I now too follow everyone who follows me, as of a day or two ago. I think it's only fair. We'll see how it works with regards to keeping up. - Dread Pirate PJ via NoiseRiver
For those looking for a short profile or who is following you, check out these GreaseMonkey scripts: Subscribed to Me - http://userscripts.org/scripts...; Profile - http://userscripts.org/scripts... Both written by http://friendfeed.com/bitfaker - Justin Korn
Brain: again, no hard and fast rules for me. It was just spring cleaning. I understand what you mean about content generators, but I prefer firehose streams in my RSS reader. That lets me pay a bit more attention to the active Friendfeeders. - Chris Baskind
Hey, thanks for the feedback, guys! I accidentally left a little debugging sanity check in place which was causing some inaccuracies - I didn't catch it because my humble status doesn't reach more than 200 on either side of the fence. :) But if you could retry, I've upped the limit to a few thousand now. - felix
Felix: I spot checked before making changes to my list, then ran it twice after I was done. Seems to have performed well. Thanks. :-) - Chris Baskind
Awesome felix, much more accurate, and has all the subscriptions, too! Very cool tool. - Mark Trapp
I used this Greasemonkey script to achieve it http://userscripts.org/scripts... - Mark Krynsky
I understand wanting to follow the people who's following you, but unfollowing from the ones who are not? I subscribe to people because I find what they share interesting, not because they are interested in me. Thanks for the links Justin. - Alejandro S.
@felix - just used it VERY cool and very much appreciated. - Marco
Alejandro, there's some amount of value in getting feedback from a person. I want to know what, say, you're doing and what you're interested in, but I also want to know what you think of my stuff. Both your sharing and seeing your feedback paints two parts of a whole picture of who you are and what makes you interesting. To me, it's about people, relationships, and conversation: others find a different use for Friendfeed. Friendfeed accommodates them all. - Mark Trapp
I do have some folks I follow that don't follow me. I know I find some of them much more interesting than they would me, and that's fine. - Ian May
Interesting, apparently I am following 251 people who aren't following me. Ah well, that's cool, having such a disparity makes less guilty of I decide to stop following someone based on a statement or whatever. Although.. there are a number I thought *were* following me. That's a bit disappointing. - J. Phil
I follow much more people than who follow me, but that's is just how see FriendFeed working. You just follow the people and type of content you want to follow and if person don't have interesting content, you don't follow it. - Daniel Schildt
Twitter
Ryan j Budke posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Mike Wills posted a link
Must check out TuneUp
July 16 at 8:00 am - Link
@calilewis told me to... - Mike Wills
FriendFeed
RAPatton posted a link
New Interest in Vertical Farms for Urban Areas - NYTimes.com
New Interest in Vertical Farms for Urban Areas - NYTimes.com
New Interest in Vertical Farms for Urban Areas - NYTimes.com
New Interest in Vertical Farms for Urban Areas - NYTimes.com
July 16 at 4:53 am - via Bookmarklet - Link
"What if “eating local” in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food?" - RAPatton via Bookmarklet
i just don't see too many expensive hi-rises in a city like ny lending part of their building spaces to organic farming - Cee Bee
I'd love to see this, not likely in manhattan, but could see it coming up in some of the boroughs for sure. Still, pretty unlikely to happen anytime soon. - felix
It's like granular in-fill. It might work in areas with strict land use regulations. Washington county, the home of Beaverton, Portland Oregon's neighbor would be a likely spot as would some of Portland's own urban renewal areas. Vertical farms such as these could function as large CSA's and sell shares to the local inhabitants. Located near wind and hydroelectricity sources could mean for a workable system with a smaller footprint. Neat Stuff! - Christopher Harley
Google Reader
Louis Gray shared an item on Google Reader
The iPhone 3G proves that there is no economic downturn
July 15 at 3:56 pm - Link
i think it just fits in whole gadget/video games/tech category of recession-proof industry - Brian Ries
It only proves that the economic downturn is uneven in its distribution across all socio-economic sub groups - Duncan Riley
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No, just means that those same people who didn't pay their mortgage are now racking up more bills they don't intend to pay by purchasing iPhones. May be broke, but they look cool. - xero
many people would sooner go without food than hip new mobile phone. we'll see if mcdonald's sales spike as families opt for iphones instead of groceries. (sarcasm intended) - Jason Goldberg
A one-time purchase of $300 is nothing compared to the ever increasing weekly trip to the pump. - James Hull
There is a fine line between clever and stupid, and he just walked it. - Dan Kaplan
or that people are idiots (shrug) - Gary Dobkin
I only live 2.2 miles from my office and my monthly gas bill is inching toward that $300 mark - xero
@Gary: agreed. - Jason Shultz via twhirl
Uhh... no. It doesn't prove anything besides the fact that an unrepresentative subset of people have some disposable income. - Pete Brown via fftogo
@Pete If I had disposable income, you can bet I wouldn't drop it on an expensive new phone so early after release and opt for a higher monthly cell phone bill. I have more important priorities like promoting my business, keeping a roof over me and my families head, food on the table and gas in the vehicles. - Jason Shultz via twhirl
totally agree with Pete and Duncan - the typical iPhone buyer hasn't (yet?) been affected by the economic downturn - Frederic
It proves if you offer something up for $200 and monthly payments for 2 years people will line up for it, as opposed to $1,600 right off the bat. - Jason Kaneshiro
no it just means that an unrepresentative subset of people have more credit elasticity then previously thought off. To all your iPhone buyers- did you walk in w/cash or debit card to pay or did you swipe your CC ?? Now be truthful !! - Peter Dawson
I remember reading that experts observed that people will always spend money on entertainment; they did so even during the Great Depressions. This bolsters any argument that the iPhone (like my own mostly beloved phone) is an entertainment device that can do work. - MiniMage via NoiseRiver
i didn't write the piece, but i do agree with Dan's (the author) general principles on it. everyone here commenting on 'the recession' *is* aware that we are *NOT* in one, right? i fundamentally believe if mainstream media were to start talking about all the rosy signs of the economy, the masses would believe it too... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R... - Jeremy Toeman
Responding to the article: Actually, it proves that the well-to-do are always the last to be affected by a recession. Yes, to people who're barely scraping by right now, we who can afford iPhones and AT&T calling plans are freakin' rich. - Morton Fox
I've spent about 10 minutes trying to type SOMEthing that resembles the blankest look I can muster, but yeah, think I'll just go buy something instead. - Eric Rice
Nah just proves "fans" of a product outweigh logic - Dan Rockwell via twhirl
doesn't prove a damn thing. how out of touch can someone be to proclaim such nonsense? - Cee Bee
FriendFeed
Sacca posted a link
GOOD Magazine | Events - San Francisco Choose GOOD Block Party
GOOD Magazine | Events - San Francisco Choose GOOD Block Party
July 15 at 2:07 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link
I really like GOOD Magazine and they are in SF this week throwing a party. For $20, subscribers get: (1) 6 issues of GOOD (2) Entry to all GOOD parties & free drinks (3) And all $20 goes to one of their 12 nonprofit partners - Sacca via Bookmarklet
Twitter
Nick O'Neill posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Hutch Carpenter posted a link
Participation Inequality: Lurkers vs. Contributors in Internet Communities (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)
Participation Inequality: Lurkers vs. Contributors in Internet Communities (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)
July 14 at 9:14 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link
"In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action." - Hutch Carpenter via Bookmarklet
I've seen this a few times now and I wouldn't coin the 90% that matter most when it comes to having a community to speak to as "Lurkers" - it's a negative connotation that deserves a different name - Julian Baldwin
Show 35 more comments
I think you could apply those same percentages to society at large. Question; what's the tipping point that moves a person from one level to the next, up or down? - Jack Carlson
Julian - "lurkers" speaks to the goals of a company running social media. You want participation. But as consumers of information, you're right. I'm learning, not lurking! - Hutch Carpenter
Jack, he defines what each level is right in the article. - Mark Trapp
actions carried out by lurkers (views, time spent per node, node entrance, node exit, etc) can be considered a form of positive participation if you're feeding the trending patterns back into your community. - [edit] - just saw it in the article, 'Make participation a side effect' aka 'read wear'. - Graham Garland
I saw that, Mark, but the examples were internet oriented. When applied to real life or society, there are other tipping points. Some people's lives could be defined by those statistics. They are actively contributing to their lives about 1% of the time and spending 90% of their lives more as spectators than participants. Life's lurkers. - Jack Carlson
Jack, it's not about "tipping points:" he's merely citing statistical data. In general 90% of users online don't participate at all, 9% participate but don't make it their main focus, and 1% seem to focus on nothing other than participating. Therefore, you're not getting a representative sample for user feedback when soliciting comments or methods that require participation. I think it's a stretch to take this data and attempt to discover life's lessons out of it. - Mark Trapp
Old media: TV,magazines,etc. probably 99% lurkers. 10% improvement not bad. - Mark Forman
We all lurk on most things, participate on some things. Last night, there was a good discussion about the safety and reliability of nuclear energy here. I have *nothing* to add to that, I was just as curious as anyone else. Lurking. - Hutch Carpenter
"Wikipedia is thus even more skewed than blogs, with a 99.8-0.2-0.003 rule" - Nicholas James
Wikipedia: "The encyclopedia anyone can edit, but you're really not going to, are you?" - Mark Trapp
Why should we-and put all those wikipediaists out of a job? - Mark Forman
@jbaldwinconnect: I like the term "audience," since it goes right to the heart of what they're there for. To observe, enjoy, and if they feel the urge they CAN interact but don't have to. Sometimes they applaud, sometimes they heckle, even if they don't get on stage. You can't have a theatre WITHOUT them. And why would you want to? Sometimes I think a lot of SocNet activists would like a masturbatory world where everyone's just acting for everyone else and no one's listening. - Alexander Williams via NoiseRiver
@alexander Clap, clap ,clap encore!!! - Mel.Buckpitt
Yep, +1 Alexander. The performer/audience relationship is just natural. Well said. - Colin Walker via fftogo
Isn't it true of the world in general? - Parth Awasthi
Personally, I think Ye Olde "Lurker" is perfectly apt. In online communities (as opposed to what passes for such in the Web 2.0 world), there is no performer/audience dynamic... there are people who define themselves and the community through participation, and then there are the those who prefer to observe the community without becoming a part of it. - Roger Benningfield
Hutch: I'm not subscribed to you, and yet your name pops up in my FF flow all the time. So that pretty much confirms you're not a lurker in this space... having nothing to say in a specific "thread" doesn't change the fact that you're generally active. - Roger Benningfield
Roger - there are times I lurk, times I jump in. And I just subscribed to you as well. I like the earlier comments regarding the need for people to just *listen*, not always *perform*. Nothing wrong with that. Lurking = learning. - Hutch Carpenter
That's very true. I learn so much here. And sometimes lurking is better than blurting out just anything in order to participate. (Though I've been guilty of that too.) - Abby Martin
Hutch: Oh, I don't mean to suggest that there's some sort of moral imperative to participate. And there can definitely be a learning aspect to lurking... bit it can also be voyeuristic and detached in some contexts. - Roger Benningfield
I'm lurking on this thread. Oh wait. - possible248
Someone who watches and observes is generally thought of as intelligent, open. But in online social communities they are "lurkers." - Alex Williams
Imagine the noise if there was 100% participation. - Morton Fox
Alex: Someone who sits in shadowed silence while observing the party is usually thought of as "creepy". :-D Again, context plays a big role here. I'm simply resistant to the recasting of lurkers as "contributors by other means" or the audience at a show. Lurkers all-too-often bring their own sense of entitlement to the table, and don't need anyone encouraging them to feel more important than they are. - Roger Benningfield
This is an important point for any community strategy: how can you encourage the lurkers to participate easily? The "like" button in FriendFeed was made for lurkers! - Erica Toelle via twhirl
I disagree that people who observe a public community are sitting in "shadowed silence" and are therefore "creepy." I agree that they are not contributors by other means. Now, some silent observers may be creepy but they are a smaller subset of the community. Same could be said about contributors. A subset of that community may be quite "creepy" in their own right, too. - Alex Williams
Erica: To me, the bigger question is, "do you really want to make it easy for people to participate?" I agree that the "like" link is a handy, non-destructive substitute for an endless stream of "+1", "first!!!", and other one-sentence contributions. But I'm not sure it would do much to forge the bonds of community. - Roger Benningfield
i was thinking of passing on this one, not wanting to be the only counter comment - but hey, why not - doesn't anyone else on this thread find it ironic that inside the most progressive participation tool to-date (friendfeed) a thread is occurring around an almost 2 year old "article" written by the ui dinosaur that is jakob nielsen - his way of looking at online interactions was dated back then and it is still dated - anyway, i just thought it was ironic, i'll go back to my lurking now ;) - mike "glemak" dunn
Alex: Again, I'm not saying lurkers are of any single character... I'm just pointing out that, depending on the structure and purpose of a community, lurking can have a very different feel. Honestly, I don't have anything against lurkers in general. I simply chafe at the emphasis that is often placed upon them when discussing community. - Roger Benningfield
sorry one more - alexander has a great line above "Sometimes I think a lot of SocNet activists would like a masturbatory world where everyone's just acting for everyone else and no one's listening." - awesome - mike "glemak" dunn
Mike: That only makes sense to me if we're talking about blogging or a service like FF, where it is entirely possible to approach participation as a fire-and-forget exercise. But in an actual community, you're usually talking *with* someone. Listening is kind of an important part of having a conversation. :) - Roger Benningfield
roger: are you referring to my "ironic" comment, in which case i don't understand or my quotation of alexander's funny statement in which case i still don't understand - can you pls say what you're trying to say a different way? - mike "glemak" dunn
Mike: Non-threaded discussion drives me ape-shit. (grumble grumble) I was referring to the latter... an "acting without listening" environment can really only take shape on a blog or a place like FF, where one can get by with one-way content production. Communities, meanwhile, host conversations, which by their very nature require that someone at least *pretend* to be listening. - Roger Benningfield
I've heard the 80-19-1 split... but many communities probably are closer to 90-9-1 - Eric Berlin
roger: I think you and i define online communities differently - alexander's line was humorous which is why I pointed it out - possibly the joke did not resonate with you but it worked for me - have a good one - mike "glemak" dunn
By the way, please see Forrester's Social Technographics data, this 90 9 1 rule isn't always the case, it depends on the demographics http://www.forrester.com/Groun... -