What Is Lurk Mode

Happy Monday! Or is your day more like Mundane Monday?

I'm still playing catch up so I've been in serious lurk mode for more than a week.

History of Lurk Mode

Did you ever wonder who first used lurk in the online world?

When computer-mediated communication first began as online communities--bulletin boards--lurking was viewed as a problem because the community wanted all members to interact by posting.

However, many people may visit a community because they're interested in the subjects under discussion, but they don't have time to post or they're shy.

Lurking now pertains to anyone who is online, monitoring what's going on, but not posting or interacting. That's me when I'm overwhelmed by obligations and work. I want to keep up, but I have time only to check out what's going on.

Lurk, first used in the 14th century to refer to someone who hid away--usually for an evil purpose--immediately became popular with the internet bulletin board systems in the early 1980's to describe those who were online, using a single phone line that tied up that line so others couldn't get on to post or upload files.

Takeaway Truth

Embrace Monday and have a great week.