Lurkers

Some bloggers seem to be bothered by what they call lurkers. I don’t mind. You get to know who visits and you recognise ISPs. You know some people just click through, some come for a short while and others stay around for ages. I see that as a compliment. If people what to rummage through my archives, that’s what my blog has always been about – the archives. Visitors spend more time in my archives than in my new posts. Every once in a while a new post takes off like a rocket and that can be very exhilarating, but then there are posts in the archives which are just as popular and have been for some time. If people want to visit anonymously, that’s all right by me. It’s like browsing, window shopping, strolling. People on the Net can be very precariously balanced at times. I sometimes wonder whether I should leave a comment or not. For some people it spurs them on and they love it. For one or two it seems to have pressured them and then they have stopped blogging…probably because they just wanted to blog away in their own little world. I can remember when I was new to blogging there was a fantastic blog, but the lady totally stressed out because it was becoming so popular, and with good reason. It weighed heavily on her because she then thought she had to perform and be “clever”. In the end she stopped blogging and that was such a loss. Same with visitors. Often it’s your own time and own world on the Net and you do not necessarily want to engage with others. It can be soothing, healing, moving. I don’t know how people are when they are visiting but if they want to be nameless and faceless that is up to them. By the same token, I really do value the time and effort people take to leave comments or email me. That makes me happy! I think it’s good to have Net friends and co-bloggers. At times it has been invaluable.