Are you an internet lurker?

I'm curious as to how others participate, or don't, on the internet. I should mention I'm 22 and have been using the internet daily since about age 10. Up until about a year ago, I never posted on ATS or anywhere for the most part. I sort of enjoyed "lurking" since I felt like I was able to learn more as an observer. Being a lurker, I didn't want Facebook either. I guess I enjoyed the simplicity that comes with not being so involved with the internet.

Even though I spend (and continue to) a good deal of time online, I feel that as a lurker there's a bit more separation between life and the internet. I enjoy leaving the internet, and going about my day. With things like the aforementioned Facebook, that becomes blurred. Drama arises when partners break up by rather childishly changing their relationship status, and jealousy becomes flared when someone finds happiness with a new person, and really the innumerable other things that can arise through social networking sites. And all this loveliness is now accessible 24/7 via your android phone.

I guess I enjoyed the days when the internet was smaller, and more niche. I suppose the conflict I find is that negativity has been increasing over the years on the internet I think it's fair to say, bosses checking social networking sites, cyberbullying ect. yet at the same time there's pressure to be involved. Even staying up to date with the news has become sort of a duty, instead of an interest. People wanting "fame" online...I don't get it.

Curious to any thoughts you all have. I didn't mean to talk so much about social networking but it's an easy example.

I consider myself a 'lurker', both here on ATS and elsewhere. I find it easier to process information and come to my own conclusions regarding a certain subject if I have a certain detachment from what I am reading. Its sort of like reading an article from a magazine or a newspaper, however I have found there to exist too much personal bias in the aforementioned mediums. That is why I spend so much time reading discussions amongst a wide group of people, such as here on ATS.

However, I do see the veil thinning faster and faster between the 'internet-user' and the 'internet' itself. You mention Facebook as an example. Take note how easy it is for someone to check their Facebook page from the iPhone or Blackberry. We are constantly in contact with all of friends and relatives, no matter the geographical distance. This was not the case even five years ago. I foresee a time in the not-so-distant future where we will not have to use outer tools such as smart-phones or computers to access a Facebook-esque database; we will be intuitively connected to said database, either through spiritual transformation or genetic-technological upgrade. The way of the lurker is quickly becoming obsolete.