"Lurking"

As I am reading more and more blogs I am beginning to feel a little like a lurker (mentioned in one of our lectures). I find I am spending a ridiculous amount of time reading other peoples blogs rather than concentrating on my own reflective learning. However, I don’t think of this as a negative. It has made me question topics that I hadn’t considered before and has also been instrumental in learning about new collaboration tools that other students find useful. I suppose this is similar to the way I use Facebook in some ways. I usually check Facebook everyday and have a read of other people’s posts and status updates, but I rarely update my own status... I suppose I am the sort of person who likes to quietly observe and then speak up only when I have an opinion that I feel is necessary to voice. I find discussion forums are a little more approachable as they are in the form of a developing conversation where you can interact with other participants. But I suppose we do also have the option to comment on each others blogs too. In which case, it is time to get vocal.  In another blog I read (http://www.kelandpartners.com/kelkellyblog/2008/04/06/blog-lurking/) from a public relations and social media marketing agency Kel and Partners Kel asks “Did you ever notice how few people comment on blogs? It is estimated that 90%+/- of users are considered “lurkers” and don’t participate in the conversation and only a mere 1% are considered “active participants.” Even some of the most well-read blogs receive a relatively small % of comments.”So I guess I am not the only one...

I do think it would be better if we all used the same website such as Blogspot for example to create our blogs as all of them seem to be very different which is also slowing me down.