Silent Conspiracy of the Lurkers

It appears there may be a major conspiracy active right here on ATS

It has to do with the 99%+ viewers of the average thread that don't have a reply.

Are that many just not interested? Why would they even click on the thread, then? No comment for 99%. That seems statistically remote to me. Everybody has an opinion, Tupac said so. Why don't more people who read them respond to threads? Even when there are responses, most of them are back and forth between a couple or three people. Why don't more readers respond?

Do they have a motive to monitor? Keeping an eye on things? A vicarious TV bred dis-association that precludes actual interaction? What is it? I am curious. Partly because I'm a strong believer in symbiotic relationships, and partly because I like to challenge perceived apathy in all its forms, if that is what this is.

Nobody will know unless you lurkers hanging around out there respond to this or another thread and explain yourselves! Don't be thread parasites. Engage in the discussion or mind your own business!

I'm being harsher than I really feel or intend in order to try and stir some passion in the leeching lurkers.

Show yourselves!

Are you suggesting that everyone leave a response everytime they view a thread? That would just lead to an utter cacophony of meaningless posts....

Of course not. Just pointy out that 99%+ seems like alot of apathy or something, even taking into account re-reads and multiple replies.

You got an ax to grind or something? Bone to pick with me?

I think i can see where Icarus Rising is coming from here. Most people or should i say some people post their oppions or views, this doesnt seem to be the case on some.

On the thread calles: 9/11: A Boeing 757 Struck the Pentagon, 264725 people have viewed it and only 875 people have posted a response.

Now that is over 263000 people that didnt respond what were they doing if not watching?

INTERNET FIGHT!

Someone get the booze!

Icarus Rising

Mate i know what you are saying but alot of the times people are not sure about what is posted plus they dont have the facts why reply when you dont know anything about what was posted ??

I'm definately a lurker. I read posts because I'm interested in the subject matter, and though I do have my own opinions about it, I don't feel compelled to participate. I think this attitude is shared by many people; in a way, this site is just another form of entertainment under the guise of intellectual discussion.

Some just don't have the time I bet.

I watched for a long time before I started to rely. I wished I had time to reply to more but I don't - far too busy.

Major lurker here.

Why don't I post more? The reasons vary depending on a lot of things.

I don't post if I know it'll just lead to a never ending arguement.

I don't post if someone else has already posted what I was going to say.

I don't post if I don't know much about the subject.

I don't post if I feel a topic has already been pretty well covered by other posters.

There's other reasons, but that short list covers the major ones. Of course I don't always go by that list, as some of my previous points more than show.

I'm not a lurker at all; I try and chime in whenever I feel its valid. A lot of times though I'll just read the articles because they're interesting. Most of the time I don't have much of anything really to say about it, and I try really hard to avoid the one-liners; that's a rule that makes a lot of sense to me. I'm also reasonably new to the whole scene, and I don't know that much about a lot of stuff. I'm trying to learn what I can so I can step in when needed and actually make sense.

Also, it seems that for some reason I have a bad habit of killing threads--a lot of the ones I post to stop right after I post, and it's not like I solved anything with my post. So I often refrain from posting on a thread due to consideration for those who may be still interested in it

I lurk, I lurk, but can't reply at work. I only sign-in and reply when I have something to say, or a link to add for more info for others. But I stop by at least a few times a day to see whats going on. Sometimes I'm just looking for other opinions on a story I've read on CNN, BBC, MSNBC etc.............

D9
You ARE the booze!



I think a lot of people refrain from creating an echo, if you know what I mean. If something's been said to death, they feel it doesn't need to be said again.

Some people don't reply probably because they feel their viewpoint won't be accepted, or they're afraid of getting flamed.

Others don't reply, because, as a previous poster pointed out, this site can be used for strictly entertainment purposes, without any participation. I discourage this, I think ATS is a participatory sport, not a spectator sport.

I also think a fair number of people don't have confidence in their own understanding of certain topics or concepts, and they're here to learn. After a while, I'm sure they'll add something to the discussion. But, for instance, how does a layman jump into a discussion about astronomy or cryptids without sounding uninformed? Some people feel no such restriction...

I think most lurkers become posters at some point, it can just take a while in some cases I imagine.

I don't consider myself a lurker, and only post when I think I have something to add. Otherwise I do not reply for similar previously stated reasons. I also am limited to time when at work. Sometimes it takes a while to put your thoughts into the right words. This will probably get easier with more practice. So if this is your reason for not replying, how can you improve if you don't practice.

Originally posted by MCory1
Also, it seems that for some reason I have a bad habit of killing threads--a lot of the ones I post to stop right after I post

I thought the same thing, but I think it happens to everyone. See, you didn't kill this thread. Now watch and see if I do.

i bet some people wish i was a lurker lol

too often i put my foot in my mouth and reply

too often i get emotionally "into" it, and reply with my usual
bla bla bla bla bla!

i havent seem to have made many enemys yet *like so many of the ATS posters have*
in fact i dont know of any enemys yet lol

friend-enemys

maybe im not psychotic enough to elicit harsh replys
maybe i havent said anything rediculous enough
but im pretty sure i have
i guess no one pays much attention to my wild comments?

i dunno....
maybe they cant reply to me because their too busy laughing at me
hehehe

that is odd tho; 99% dont reply
very odd indeed

i feel weird knowing im part of the 1% that does say something

by the way; the reason i put my foot in my mouth almost daily is because well
shoes taste good especially with mustard or ketchup

Maybe when people actually read the thread, they hit the "pissing contest" part of the conversation and sigh "Same old Sh!!", and close the window.

Or They start seeing the christians posting their personal psychological disorder as "advice" to the original poster, and the original poster falling for this quackery and decide, "These people are not worth my time"

Its not a conspiracy at all, its a just reflection on the content of this site.

One expects "ignorance denied" and finds complete idiots running amok, "screaming the sky is falling, and it's alien anti-christs who are pushing it down"

It would be funny if it wasn't so saddly pathetic.

Views, as near as I can tell, are not for unique viewers, so if a person reads a thread, leaves, comes back, posts, leaves, comes back, edits, rereads, re-edits, re-reads, each of those times the thread was opened counts as a view.

At least, that's my observation.

I'm kind of a lurker. Here almost everyday checking out stuff. This is my 280th post and I've been here over a year. I like reading what people have to say, what's going on, learn alot, but am a little self-conscious about the content of my posts. So when I don't think I have something unique enough, or can't contribute anything besides a "me too" I just don't post.

[edit on 4/30/2005 by DiabolusFireDragon]

Indeed. It must come down not only to people refusing to re-hash what has been said to death, but also TO STAND AGAINST what has been said to death.


The amount of views in the Boeing/Pentagon thread HAS to be the result of some sort of robot/spider

Or ATS could prove me wrong, I guess.

It comes down to, those who post regularly are the ones who engage in "pissing contests" atleast some of the time, but the problem is, people continue to carry grudges, and try to continue arguments.

You don't even look at the thread, you just look at who last posted. Esp. true in the Secret Societies thread.

suppose i should come out and confess too. Have been reading ATS for ages now, got round to registering, and still never really posted.
First thing, is lack of time. I have 4 kids and i run my own business from home, so whenever i get spare time, i just like to read this site. Its interesting, informative and fun.
I think the other thing is that so many of you seem like such prolific posters that i figure i would never be able to keep up with answering replies to my posts (i assume, of course, i would post anything of interest :-))

Well isnt it true when ever anyone opens that thread, it counts as a view? It could be just the same people who replied are viewing the thread over and over again just to read any other followups on it. I often check threads that interests me at least 10 to 20 times a day. And sure I reply but not everytime i view it.