Posted by Jock on November 15, 2006 at 17:15:29 from 87.105.81.146 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Listening (was lurking) posted by Fiona on November 15, 2006 at 16:32:09:
I think the thing I object to is the implication that if you don't join
in but do read the various postings, you are 'listening maliciously'
- in other words, you are somehow up to no good, merely because
you don't burst forth with erudite prose every now and then.
There's a comprehensive discussion of "lurking" (in the Internet sense) on
Wikipedia. (Follow the link for more details.) This describes four categories
of lurkers: Malevolent, Benign, Constructive and Smart-Ass.