Do You Ever Wonder What The Lurkers Think Of Us?

[smudgersmissingleg]

Every forum I've ever been on is like that. After a year or so all the sane / interesting / always been crazy posters migrate to the off-topic section and just take occasional forays into the on topic discussions. It's the cycle of life... like how the female mantis eats the male after mating or how old growth forests need fires in order to survive and flourish.

That's the great thing about the forum being so much busier than it used to be. Lots more interesting threads. I notice that it does get quieter when it's the early hours of the morning US time as we have a lot of American lads on here and they're obviously sleeping.

BTW I was just joking about the Peterson thread. If I see something that doesn't interest me I just keep scrolling.

 

[didimauw]

Unregistered lurkers are why many members don't suggest posting about secret tobacco locations, drops, etc. Many people are taking all of our secrets and running. And many look through the for sale threads, and join just to buy the pipes/tobacco. A rule I've been fighting to change for years now.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

That's the great thing about the forum being so much busier than it used to be. Lots more interesting threads. I notice that it does get quieter when it's the early hours of the morning US time as we have a lot of American lads on here and they're obviously sleeping.

BTW I was just joking about the Peterson thread. If I see something that doesn't interest me I just keep scrolling.

Yea, people who truly get annoyed by threads must be looking to be annoyed. That behavior stopped for me when I quit boozing.

 

[ashdigger]

I found out one of my daughters had a lurker, he’s still missing, and I have an alibi.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Unregistered lurkers are why many members don't suggest posting about secret tobacco locations, drops, etc. Many people are taking all of our secrets and running. And many look through the for sale threads, and join just to buy the pipes/tobacco. A rule I've been fighting to change for years now.

Why not just make the sales thread private or that it only appears if you post x-number of times? This has actually promoted more interaction and sales on a few forums I'm on. I for one much rather sell something at a discount to someone who posts even if they are a nasty codger and maybe even more so.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Lurkers on the forum are not dissimilar to the 'Humphrey' pest that engaged in wholesale milk theft in 1970s England..

LOL I remember those adverts. Damn Humphrey even went after Ali's pint.

 

[didimauw]

Why not just make the sales thread private or that it only appears if you post x-number of times? This has actually promoted more interaction and sales on a few forums I'm on. I for one much rather sell something at a discount to someone who posts even if they are a nasty codger and maybe even more so.

I believe it should be required number of posts to buy OR sell. But this is how the big dawg upstairs likes it.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I've never spent 1 msec wondering what anybody here thought of me.

 

[monty55]

Not even a little bit

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Lurkers have nothing to fear about joining this forum. It's a welcoming place with a great bunch of lads and some interesting threads and good banter.

What more could you ask for from a pipe smokers forum?

 

[OzPiper]

I was a lurker for a couple of years when I got back to smoking a pipe.
Until @ssjones (Al) induced me to join.
I'd never been member of any online group/Forum and still have a distrust of Facebook/TwitterTikTok et al.

 

[Briar Tuck]

View attachment 190288

That's nightmare fuel right there.

 

[ThermionicScott]

I have nothing against lurkers and certainly wouldn't say anything that might enrage them but I do wonder sometimes what they think of us. I sometimes feel like we are like fish in an aquarium for them, waiting and watching to see if one of us gets stuck in the treasure chest or if so and so bites so and so's dorsal fin off. I'm not worried per se, but I am concerned at times and I do wonder what they think about us as we pace these pages like suckermouths stuck on the glass of our cages.

I've had that thought while participating on other forums, too. It doesn't usually trouble me, though. I figure that before posting anything on the Internet, you should be comfortable with the thought of anyone in the world reading it.

 

[Briar Tuck]

Ok but you must wonder, why do they like to watch us word wrestle? I hope one chimes in so we can welcome him or her into the heard.

I was a lurker not all that long ago. I admit it; I observed you all like zoo animals or some science experiment. I watched the word wrestling, the intrigue, the chicanery, the double crossing, and the backstabbing. I witnessed the highs and the lows, the peaks and the valleys of all things pipe and tobacco...and cheese.

Then I made an account.

 

[Briar Tuck]

Unregistered lurkers are why many members don't suggest posting about secret tobacco locations, drops, etc. Many people are taking all of our secrets and running. And many look through the for sale threads, and join just to buy the pipes/tobacco. A rule I've been fighting to change for years now.

This was the same situation with a surf fishing forum that I was a member of for 15 years before it shut down. Members would post fishing reports including the specific location where they did well, then go back the next day to find dozens of people fishing there. Most quickly learned not to give away the details in a public post.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I was a lurker not all that long ago. I admit it; I observed you all like zoo animals or some science experiment. I watched the word wrestling, the intrigue, the chicanery, the double crossing, and the backstabbing. I witnessed the highs and the lows, the peaks and the valleys of all things pipe and tobacco...and cheese.

Then I made an account.

Was that after you went into the institution or after you wer let out? Wait a second my ankle bracelet is itching me, I need to get some lotion...

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I was a lurker for a couple of years when I got back to smoking a pipe.
Until @ssjones (Al) induced me to join.
I'd never been member of any online group/Forum and still have a distrust of Facebook/TwitterTikTok et al.

So, tell us, now that you aren't a lurker any longer do you find yourself having those pinch me am I dreaming moments when you interact with all of us?

 

[Yadkin1765]

BOO!

Honestly, I was here years before many of the "old timer" lifers and furniture pieces were on here (in the early part of last decade), but then life happened (kids and marriage), and I forgot my old password, so... there's that. I'm imagine a lot of people are just here standing in the corner "reading" the room.

Sorry for breaking the old fogey's rule, but I just couldn't help myself. It's my nature, rules and all... -- eg: "don't cross this line." IDK.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

BOO!

Honestly, I was here years before many of the "old timer" lifers and furniture pieces were on here (in the early part of last decade), but then life happened (kids and marriage), and I forgot my old password, so... there's that. I'm imagine a lot of people are just here standing in the corner "reading" the room.

Sorry for breaking the old fogey's rule, but I just couldn't help myself. It's my nature, rules and all... -- eg: "don't cross this line." IDK.

Dad, is that you??

 

[OzPiper]

So, tell us, now that you aren't a lurker any longer do you find yourself having those pinch me am I dreaming moments when you interact with all of us?

I soon realised that there was little interest (to the wider community) and less to be gained from hacking into a Forums full of cudmurgeons indulging in such an arcane past-time as pipe smoking.

Kevin may well disagree.