Lurkely!

My friend Cassandra made up the most awesome word today so I needed to blog about it, of course. Lurkely. Adverb form of "lurk". As in someone who reads content on the web but doesn't comment. Lurk is definitely a web word, although I'm sure that it entered the English language long before Al Gore invented the internet. A quick check of Merriam-Webster confirms that it came into existence in the 14th century. Although it came into prominence with the advent of message boards.

My point is not disparage the lurking, it's to praise it. Writers today are in such a unique situation - immediate feedback! Online discussion group! Comments galore! The power of the internet is that writers can now use the written word to not only communicate what we are feeling but also to have an active two-way discussion. Which is nice. Don't get me wrong. I love when people comment. But I'm sure if I had thousands of followers or if I posted a controversial article, I wouldn't be as excited about the comments.

Sometimes not commenting is just fine. I'm just glad you are taking time out of your busy day to spend a moment and read my thoughts. Knowing how much information competes for your attention, that makes your moment really mean something to me. So feel free to lurk away! Lurkely! (TM Cassandra)