Recently someone sent me a digest from a DigiCult listserv in which the users are debating the term "lurk" and its connotations.
I wish someone had asked me about it since I've been thinking and writing on LURK since 1997.
And here's what I think, in a nutshell: lurk, offline=negative social connotation, like Sartre's voyeur or Spike or Angel (vampires) on Buffy.
lurk, online=term from Usenet, appropriate etiquette that can be stretched and used to understand how many websites and online spectacles address computer users. To lurk is not negative or anti-social (necessarily). We all lurk these days but if you are placing the term in conversation with online community or participatory culture, that's another thing and complications arise.
Just don't forget that the online etymology for lurking is different than the OED version.
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