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Pastimes : Discuss Go2Net's acquisition of our beloved SI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: freeus who wrote (223)	4/27/1998 11:33:00 AM
From: Jerry in Omaha	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 446

M. freeus, I do believe you have framed the situation nicely: <<Interesting discussion about lurkers and posters. I cant see how a "lurker" (that really is an ominous word, can we come up with something "friendler" sounding?) really contributes though. If we dont know you are there, how can that be a contribution.>> I was surprised to see Brad Dryer expressing a small degree of irritation toward grandfathering lurkers' lifelong lethargy. As Mr. Dryer is usually progressive in his attitudes and thinking, these comments, as well as attitudes indicated by others posting here, have left me confused and concerned. Once begun, who will stop the purge of the marginalized? I usually contribute to one thread only. Will someday I be pressured to post on other threads because I'm some kind of contribution cross thread slacker? M. freeus, I agree with your suspicion that the term "lurker" carries dark meaning. It also appears to be deeply embedded in the cyber-culture, perhaps even deeper than is the time-bomb-bug leading to Y2K. The only class of people scorned more universally on SI are stock shorters, the eternally vilified. "All the world's a stage." (The theater metaphor usually provides me with a way of looking at situations that leads to a deeper understanding.) As the cast and crew of SI prepare to move to the go2net's theater in Seattle an embarassing situation has arisen, namely; what do you do with the deadbeats in the audience who just sit on their hands and never applaud? What are the new theater owners going to think about these yokels? It's at times like these that the cranky raspy voice of G. Edward Demming rings in my ear again, "It's not the people...it's the system! The people want to do good work. But, the system won't let them!" <<So who knows what is valuable to who?>> Your question is the central question; how can a system be devised to establish valuable feedback loops with the "freebie audience" grandfathered free of charge into the new theater? It is a mistake to impute into the unknown even as the title "lurker" spins negative about a person unknown. Ms. kholt's contribution to this thread was a stunning demonstration of the latent value represented by lurkers. We all are culturally conditioned easily to throw things away but we are not aware of the "leakage" of that mentality into other aspects of our thoughts and lives. It must be remembered that in order to throw anything away first we must mentally strip it of all its value and that process itself becomes a habitualized attitude we carry with us in all our dealings with the world at large. Limitations are creative challenges, nothing more. No society or community can hope to survive that does not put ostracism or execution at the very end of its list of societal response options. I hope many ways are found to include "lurkers" by finding ways for them to participate. Just giving them ways to applaud or boo would be a start. Just my opinion. Thank you for taking the time to read this posting. Jerard P P.S. My personal experience with marginalization recrimination stems from my left-handedness. Lefties will understand. Righties, you have no clue! Example: Lefties passes the spell check. Righties does not. 'Nuff said?

To: freeus who wrote (223)	4/27/1998 8:53:00 PM
From: Zeuspaul	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 446

>> I cant see how a "lurker" (that really is an ominous word, can we come up with something "friendler" sounding?) really contributes though.<< What does a potential advertiser look for? What determines how much they are willing to pay for space? Hits or content? or perhaps is it a combination of both? Could it be that go2net saw value in SI because the content is provided at minimal cost AND there is an established audience? I believe the basis for value is the hit rate. The posters enjoy "free" space to communicate. I would argue that "lurkers" pay the bills with hit rate. Do you think they will continue to frequent SI once they have been unceremoniously removed from SI? Many posters will ponder whose head will be on the chopping block next. Some will eye the Internet Sea looking for a haven should the ax start swinging their way. I believe that it is very difficult to determine the basis for the success of SI. I believe it would be prudent to build on the existing foundation. Removing a piece of the foundation will not enhance community spirit. Don't fix it if it ain't broke Zeuspaul