During the July 7 early #lrnchat about social media and social learning, there was a lot of discussion about lurking.
In response to the question “What are some ways you learn through social media that aren’t collaborative, with other people per-se?”
I do a fair amount of lurking (ie “legitimate peripheral participation”)
I also retweeted this message by Colby Fordham:
We all like sharers, but there is a value in lurking. [You] have to [learn] the rules and important topics.
…and then stop lurking
Often, lurking is just a temporary phase, and you do jump in afterwards. But is that always necessary? I have lots of online communities where I sit on the periphery and lurk, long past the initial phase of learning how the community works.
A few examples:
- YouTube: Most of the time on YouTube, I’m just watching. I’m not creating my own videos, commenting, sharing, or bookmarking. I have a few videos, but I’m lurking at least 90% of the time.
- Kongregate: Technically, I am not a lurker on this gaming site by the strictest definition, since I do rate games. I read through the forums and chat sometimes, but rarely jump into the conversation.
- News: I don’t get a newspaper in “dead tree” format; I get most of my news online. I read several newspapers and blogs, all of which have commenting or community features. Most of the time I don’t even read the user discussions, and I never add my own comments.
- Slashdot: I skim the RSS feed, but I don’t have an account and have never commented.
- Wikipedia: At one point, I contributed quite a bit (2500+ edits), but it’s been over a year since I’ve been active.
I learn on all those sites. (Yes, even Kongregate: I learn game strategies on the forums. What I learn is of limited use in the rest of my life, but it’s useful for my goals when I’m on that site.) I’ll be honest; I’m not really interested in getting sucked into the high drama conversations on most of those sites. Wikipedia, for example, can be pretty intense and nasty. It’s the only place online I’ve actually been directly threatened (although there was no actual danger, it was still disconcerting). If I’m going to be part of conversations, I’d rather they be part of the learning community, or at least more productive than many of the conversations at the sites above.
Would I be a better gamer if I was active in the Kongregate forums? Most likely. But I’m not looking for a high level of expertise in gaming. So why should I expend my energy there, when peripheral participation gets me enough expertise to meet my personal goals?
In the #lrnchat conversation, Jane called this behavior “taking,” and she’s right—I’m reading and taking advantage of the resources without giving back. I give back here, but I don’t give back in every community that I use. My giving is very uneven, and sometimes I just lurk.
Is it wrong to lurk, or is it appropriate to have different levels of participation in different online communities? Should we exclude anyone from reading the RSS feeds of our blogs if they aren’t commenting, bookmarking, +1-ing, etc?
In Digital Habitats, Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, and John D. Smith call lurking “legitimate peripheral participation”:
From a community of practice perspective, lurking is interpreted as “legitimate peripheral participation,” a crucial process by which communities offer learning opportunities to those on the periphery. Rather than a simple distinction between active and passive members, this perspective draws attention to the richness of the periphery and the learning enabled (or not) by it. (p. 9)
Do the people active in a community learn more than those on the edges? Yes, I do believe that. But if your goal isn’t to be an expert, peripheral participation may give you enough learning to meet your needs. You can learn via social media without it actually being social learning.
What do you think? Are there communities where you are in the center of the action, but others where you’re on the periphery? Is there a place for lurking in learning communities, or should everyone be an active participant? If we’re designing learning with social media, can we focus just on social learning, or can we also support use of social media for peripheral participation?
Image credit:
One Change a Day 
Hi Christy,
Your post got me thinking about apprentice learning in teacher training. I remember my work experience as the first time ‘behind the scene’. In a ‘community of practice’ or ‘knowledge domain’ there is silent knowledge that can be uncovered when you are immersed. I don’t believe a Lurker is the passive participant as it might appear. They are engaged in growing strength and increasing their repertoire. I also believe when we share, our knowledge get a new meaning and hopefully resonates with other peers – Backpropagation.
If I make an analogy of my undertaking as rock climbing instructor – Deep Water Soloing (DWS). The beginner has to build muscles and learn techniques in order to perform on a basic level. When he/she has reproduced the practice route, it is possible to find a new path and evaluate what ‘grip’ that will make sense for the upward movement – know your limits and abilities.