Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

We have almost 2000 members, but fewer participants, of course. I'm wondering how many lurkers we have. If you read this and don't mind de-lurking for a bit, post a quick note here.

I lurk more than I post, so I guess I'm a part-time lurker!

I delurk periodically, as the tactical situation permits, then return to running silent, running deep.

I'm guilty of being a lurker... but since I'm new to the group, I hope I'm forgiven! LOL!

In case you haven't already counted me, I'm adding my two cents here.

You're forgiven!

I read the daily email of the new discussions pretty regularly. I really enjoy the conversations, even though I skip a lot of the book discussions since I haven't read the books.

I post sometimes, but haven't joined into the actual book discussions yet. I get a daily digest and I am live in Europe with many hours difference from most of the members, so by the time I read the posts, they are already old news and my comments seem out of date.

I read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie a few years ago, but haven't reread it and am only following the discussion so far. Starting the end of this week I will be without internet access at home for two months, so I will participate even less until I have internet again in early September.

I like to participate, but often feel like the stupid person in the discussions. So, more often than not, I just read. I also need to figure out how to block a user, whose argumentativeness and arrogance toward everyone really REALLY bugs me.

I am eagerly awaiting the Agee book, which I have wanted to read ever since college. But, again, I will probably just read the discussion.

Dree all posts are needed. Please don't feel intimidated. Your opinions are as valued as other are. I for one would be interested in seeing your take on a book. I have been known to change my mind about a book because of different people enlightening me.

I love to read some of the discussions. I have been a member of this group since 2007, but like Dree mentioned, there are some posts that are argumentative and arrogant, which I tend to avoid.

There are many many threads that I read that I keep coming back to as they have some very intelligent responses and people involved in them. I am constantly adding books to my TBR list because of comments and reviews that I have seen here.

I am participating in some threads more than others. Ruth has got me interested in poetry and actually buying some new books to graze through. I've been lurking at times and jumping in more than I expected.

It is good to see all of you lurkers and semi-lurkers posting here. Please post more often. It would be nice if Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ had a way to purge the list of people so that we can get rid of those who stopped by once and then didn't return.

The trouble with purging is that they are not allowed back. Deleting members actually bans them.

I haven't posted in a while. Since I started working full time again, my schedule is full. I'm working second shift and I'm having trouble balancing my life. I keep up with reading the threads every day or so in digest form, but I rarely find I have anything to add. I haven't made the time to read along with the group. I keep hoping I'll figure out a schedule. Do you think Constant Reader will still be around in 30 years when I retire? ;)

LOL Hope so. It is good to hear from you Summer.

It's been around for 15, so I hope it's got at least 30 more to go (I may be scarce, though :)

Ditto for me too Sherry.

Dvora wrote: "I post sometimes, but haven't joined into the actual book discussions yet. I get a daily digest and I am live in Europe with many hours difference from most of the members, so by the time I read t..."

Dvora, I'm in Europe too. Don't let the time difference deter you! :-)

Thanks Hazel, I do post sometimes, but it often feels like it's old hat by the time I do.
Hazel wrote: "Dvora wrote: "I post sometimes, but haven't joined into the actual book discussions yet. I get a daily digest and I am live in Europe with many hours difference from most of the members, so by the..."

Oh, please, don't let time lags and other postings deter your input -- the wider the range of posts and thoughts, the deeper the discussion can become in my opinion. Discussion isn't only all agreement on what something means and thus there can be times when there may be a feeling of too much opposition but we make every attempt to maintain civility and wwe also try our best to bide those who tend to atagonize -- with or without intent. I really think that's why the group is still here. Being here has brought great increase in numbers and many, many welcome new members who jumped right in and participate regularly -- look forward to more of you doing likewise.

Oh, I'm one who has been here a long, long time and I talk way too much and much of it is not necessarily relevant but once in a while I feel I make up for that by actually coming out with something which heads a discussion into a new avenue. I try.

Hi, I am definately a lurker. I have read some of the recent books and I enjoy reading the book discussions. I have thought about posting, but I guess I was a little intimidated. I will work on this (I guess I have taken my first step!)

I am so glad you have Laura. I look forward to hearing more from you.

To be honest, I joined a short time ago, never having done anything like this before. I'm really pleased with this group because it is so welcoming to new people. I didn't really expect to participate as much as I have but have found it much easier and less anxiety-provoking than I imagined in the past.

Thanks to all who have developed this place over the years.

Laura wrote: "Hi, I am definately a lurker. I have read some of the recent books and I enjoy reading the book discussions. I have thought about posting, but I guess I was a little intimidated. I will work on th..."

I was also intimidated when I first joined CR back in 1996. But then I started to venture into the shallow waters, and found that I enjoyed it. Our board is best when we have many diverse opinions on books. The variety of views adds to the richness of the discussions.

Hi all... I am lurking a little today. I've been away for a while (nursing a broken ankle) and am just seeing what's been going on while I've been gone... I'm so glad I wasn't purged :-)

I'm just going to do some more lurking...

lurky loo LOL Hope your ankle gets better soon Mary Jo.

Thanks, Carol; I've missed everyone here at CR and I'm glad to be back. I can't be on the computer for very long at a stretch, so will just be popping in to lurk around a bit once in a while :-)

I remember being intimidated when I first lurked. But I found this, over all, a very welcoming group and I learn so much from the back-and-forth of discussion. So, fear not to de-lurk and participate! On the other hand, I wouldn't want to scare away lurkers who are enjoying the discussions and getting new reading ideas. When you feel ready, c'mon in, y'all: the water's fine! Till then, relax on the CR "beach"!

I see that we are now up to 2000. That is kind of scary!

2001, now. Well, the more the merrier! I just hope I can keep up with it.

You seem to be doing a wonderful job. This is a great group!

I have been one of those "lurkers", after joining your group a couple of months ago. I am enjoying most of the mature and witty discussions, which I had not found in some other groups. I did mention a book which I had read a few weeks ago, but received no discussions. You are to be commended for your interesting, fine group!

Thanks Susan and Barbara. We are pretty proud of CR.

Never hesitate to speak up, Barbara. Sometimes comments are duly noted and read even if no one has anything further to add.

Thanks, Ruth! I alredy took the plunge!

Sherry, I've been curious if this thread was at all helpful in determining how many people out of the 2000 are still active at all -even if just lurking with an occasional participation.

Perhaps more important though, how many people who vote for book selections read any of what are chosen? It seems like the number of people who participate in the discussions is much smaller than the official size of the group. I know I don't read all of them because some I didn't vote for might not appeal to me. I do usually read at least a couple. Given the past difficulties on this issue, have you and the other moderators come to any conclusions about future rounds of voting?

I don't think we've come to any conclusions about the ratio of participants/lurkers. When I open the board up for new nominations and voting, I stress that you shouldn't nominate a book unless you can lead the discussion. I also ask that if you vote for a book, please try to read it. Participation is a funny thing. I read Hunger, but I didn't write a thing on the thread. I didn't want to sound redundant, since I couldn't come up with anything new. I would rather have a participant follow along with a discussion and enjoy it, than have the same point made again and again. I don't want to make people feel like they MUST comment just because they've read the book. That feels too much like homework to me.

As far the the past problems we've had. I'm going to make sure that the people nominating and voting for books are actually GoodReads and CR members! Last time people were coming in out of the woodwork to vote.

I see your point about wanting to avoid redundancy. Thanks for clarification & update.

I want to echo Sherry's comments about reading the books we vote on and participating. One of the things I love about the online part of this experience is that even if I have read the book and enjoyed it - I am not obligated to take part in the discussions. Sometimes life gets in the way and I fall behind in the threads and don't want to jump in until I have read everything that has been said and then like Sherry, I find I don't have anything new to add. Or sometimes I read the book way ahead of schedule and my memory is rusty. However I think there is something very positive about how many books a lot of us have read in common so sometimes in much later discussions we can refer back to books we collectively read (for instance, Philip and I both thought of The Country Girls Trilogy and Epilogue in reference to Brooklyn and were able to talk about that in the discussion).

Also, I love the push of having books on my list that I know I will be able to discuss if I read them, but if I try them and find it is not my cup of tea or right for me at that particular time, it's ok to abandon it and/or read later and go back and read the discussion.

What I really was getting at though, is this. Are there a lot of people who routinely just show up for nominating and voting for the group reads and then never participate in any of the CR discussions threads? Obviously Al & Sherry participate actively throughout the year. There are a great many others I’ve come to recognize over the last few years. I was curious if the past voting sequence was totally abnormal or an extreme version of past patterns. Don’t worry though, I’m not the audit police. I was just curious.

The last voting problem was an anomaly. It's never happened before. I can't prove it, because I don't really keep track, but it seems to me that the people who nominate and vote are usually the most active participants.

Sherry,
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.

Janet wrote: "What I really was getting at though, is this. Are there a lot of people who routinely just show up for nominating and voting for the group reads and then never participate in any of the CR discussi..."

Janet, I've nominated once in the past (a book I had already reach, but it wasn't chosen) but I don't think I participated in voting because I knew I might not have the time to read the books. I may have voted for my own book, though, now that I think about it :)

I always try to participate in other threads, to stay active within the CR community, even if I haven't had time to read the book. I think the last book that I finished and discussed was The Little Stranger, which I think was in May. I bought a copy of Breakable You, but didn't finish it in time (actually, I still haven't started it). I still plan to read it, though. I bought a copy of Tinkers forever ago, in preparation for the fall, and I fully intend to read and participate in that discussion.