Confessions of a mumsnet lurker

[Phunny]

Hello, this is my first thread and I just created an account a few days ago to respond to a very specific issue where I thought I could help. But I have been a daily mumsnet user for at least 4 years, including following along the pregnancy and baby threads for my 3 year old and new baby. I often wondered whether there were lots of other lurkers like me, or whether I was being a bit odd.

mumsnet and its users have been a great support to me; educating, entertaining and occasionally infuriating! I have spent many hours in the middle of the night getting help with breastfeeding problems from the generous women offering advice.

obviously, by definition, the lurkers are not going to respond. So for regular users, do you think there are lots of people watching you without joining in? Is that bad? Are there any fellow lurkers out there who would like to out themselves?!

Welcome, op.

I go through periods of lurking. Once I've posted on a thread I feel invested and end up wasting time looking to see if there are any replies.

I lurk on a few fb groups. It's fun without the commitment 🙂

I rarely join in. I'm always here though. Watching 👀

I saw stats on this once. Maybe MNHQ provided them, I can’t remember. There are vastly more people lurking and just reading them there are contributing to the threads.

Threads that are in active convos are actually those with the most clicks, not the most people posting. Apparently.

I lurked for about 6 weeks before joining (over 5 years ago now).

There are lots of topics/threads I lurk on but would rarely or never post. For example, I like reading 'The Tack Room' - never owned a horse in my life but just like reading about them!

Than not them

I reckon I lurked for 5 or more years never contributing a thing.

I lurked for years before joining. I now comment on what I would call my areas of expertise, under different usernames. But I still lurk on some topics that I don't feel knowledgeable enough to be adding to.

Thanks everybody, you’ve made me feel much better !

i like the idea of mostly lurking and contributing now and then. So, maybe see you all in another 5 years :-)

Yes I think I lurked for about 5yrs and now I post but I have never made a thread yet so you have beaten me with that.

@Ukholidaysaregreat it took me ages to work out how to do it, and I think I’ve forgotten already so this will probably be my last ..!