…but how do you make it drink?
I was just looking at the stats on a discussion board topics page that I participate in. What I noticed was that there are roughly ten times more views per thread than posts. "Lurking" is certainly not a new phenomenon in both virtual and face to face contexts. A study of online learners showed that less than half “did not actively participate in discussions” (Beaudoin, 2002). I guess the question is whether it is possible to “passively participate” in a discussion. This seeming contradiction could just be a question of semantics as Nonnecke and Preece (2000) state that "Lurking is not free-riding but a form of participation that is both acceptable and beneficial to most online groups. Public posting is only one way in which an online group can benefit from its members. All members of a group are part of a large social milieu, and value derived from belonging to a group may have far-reaching consequences".
I think back a couple of weeks when Petrea encourage me to rethink a statement that I had written. Thanks to her my learning came not only from my original reflection but from my secondary reflection. If lurkers have their own systems of reflection that they are not sharing with fellow students, perhaps it’s those that participate actively that lose out as their ideas and thoughts are not being challenged or debated.
References:
Beaudoin M (2002), Learning or Lurking? Tracking the "invisible" online student, The Internet and Higher Education, 5, pp147-155.
Nonnecke, B. and Preece, J. (2000) Silent Participants: Getting to Know Lurkers Better? Chapter 6. pp. 110-132. In. From Usenet to CoWebs. Available online: http://www.cis.uoguelph.ca/~nonnecke/research/silentparticipants.pdf
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4 comments:
Hi Jo,
Your posting made me ask myself a question:
Why do some people choose to lurk and others are active participants?
I think that some people choose to lurk because:
1. They are very introverted people (personality)
2. Not used to big discussion forums (background)
3. Have no time to participate (life)
4. A social habit (culture)
5. Very independent learners (learning skills)
And the list goes on...
One way to bring lurkers out is probably mandatory participation. But even this might have its pros and cons:
1. may make people just spam post
2. The learning or quality of posts may not improve
3. Shy people or lurkers may feel disadvantaged
but sometimes assessing may be necessary....?
1. There should be a fair assessment of the time and effort it takes to post
2. The marks allocated should not be too high
3. Quality not quantity should be encouraged
Salwa
Leave lukers alone. We like the shadows.
Hi Jo,
You make me feel quite guilty because I must confess, I'm more a lurker than a poster. I used to feel quite bad about it until I read that article that you referred to (Nonnecke and Preece (2000)) and then I thought, 'well, okay, I'm not so bad then'.
Also, Salwa's comments are valid and let me answer them from a lurker's point of view.
I am a little introverted and so would rarely post anything unless I felt I had a significant contribution to make to the discussion that hadn't been already said. The trouble with a lot of online discussions is that you may get to them after many people have already had their say and so you don't want to post just for the sake of it. I think having posting as part of assessment does disadvantage lurkers and also leads to this - the 'I'm here' post. Having said that, if I have to do it, I will. But we must remember that lurkers aren't riding to learning on the backs of others, honest! It takes a lot of time to read all posts too, which is what I try to do. If I then have something to say that I think will contribute to the discussion, I spend a lot of time and care composing that.
The main reason I lurk rather than post a lot is that I like absorbing people's opinions. I often think a lot about what I've read in the hours after having read it and come to conclusions then. By the time I get back online, the discussion has moved on, it's been said already and I don't just want to write 'I agree' or there have been so many posts to absorb in the meantime that I'm busy absorbing again.
I don't know if those of you that are regular and excellent posters feel aggrieved by this - I hope not. I do sometimes feel that you are probably doing all that and posting valuably also and I am full of admiration for how you manage to find the time. Clearly, I have time management issues if that's the case.
In conclusion, I would like to reassure you that we lurkers greatly appreciate your thoughts. We love to read them, you make us think for hours and please don't think that we don't write back because we don't value them. We are just a bit slow and shy!
Reggie
Good for people to know.
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