Fandom Trope of the Day - Lurking
May. 3rd, 2008 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficIt is generally agreed upon that having read and enjoyed a fic, it's just a good idea to leave feedback. It gives the author squee while helping them improve their weak points, it builds friendships within the community, and it's been scientifically proven to burn fat. Seeing as how fanfics are free, feedback becomes the currency of the realm, in addition to having the rather coolish feature of letting the author instanteously know how his or her work is appreciated.
But there are those who do not feedback. Banditos who travel from fic to fic, gorging themselves on prose and shipping, then departing without so much as a ":)". These renegades live outside of society, off the grid, invisible to fandom and totally unstoppable. They call themselves... Lurkers.
Now, we all lurk sometimes. And it's not like anyone should feel pressured to comment. A lot of the time, we just don't feel like commenting on a fic that isn't all that. But before we let ourselves off the hook so easily, let's remember that pretty much all of us are at least a little creative. Like respect, and gonorrhea, you've gotta give feedback to get feedback. Unless you're a BNF, but trust me, that only ends in tears.
There are almost as many types of lurkers as there are things to be lurked about. Here are a few.
The Shy Lurker - This is a majority. People who feel they have nothing to say about a fic that the author hasn't already heard, or who feel it would be impolite to point out flaws in the work of someone they barely know. What they don't realize is that the best way to make new friends is to comment on their fic.
The Harried Lurker - Again, this is most of us. We just want to spend our lunch break reading a one-shot, we don't have time to write an essay about how good it is. In fact, by the time we're called back to work, we've probably forgotten all about it. This lurker will find time to comment when he or she can, but unfortunately that's rare. If you are a Harried Lurker, try bookmarking or adding the fic to memories for later, so you can comment on it at leisure. Your author will appreciate having that week-old fic get new love and you'll get to enjoy a good fic all over again.
The Quality Lurker - The Quality Lurker is nice enough to leave comments whenever they enjoy a fic, but when they don't enjoy it, they do right by Bambi and decide not to say anything at all in lieu of something nice. Quite reasonable, only this can lead to a hurtful misunderstanding when you don't read something at all.
Author: Here's part one!
Commentor: I love it! Stupendous!
Author: Part two!
Commentor: Amazing! Genius!
Author: Part three!
Commentor: ...
Author: It wasn't that bad, was it?
Commentor: ::crickets chirping::
Author: H-hello? Oh God, it sucked, didn't it? I'LL NEVER WRITE AGAIN!!!
Commentor: What was that, I had my headphones on?
The Aggressive Lurker - A comparatively rare strain, the Aggressive Lurker enjoys an author's fics, but doesn't enjoy the author. So they read (and enjoy) the fic, but they don't leave a comment because that bastard author doesn't deserve to be told how good his or her fic is. It's basically the same principle as how, if you don't like the Foo Fighters as people, you can go into their concerts and listen to their music for free. They rate a solid 4.5 out of 10 on the Sardonic "Nice"-O-Meter.
The Zerg Lurker - Mutated and bred from the Hydralisk genus, the Lurker represents one of the deadliest strains found in the Zerg Swarm. These subterranean dwellers serve as defensive warriors for the core Hive Clust
Wait a minute...
::checks::
Frell. I suppose I'll have to jettison all this stuff about the Protoss.
The WIP Lurker - The WIP Lurker will read serial fics, but they only leave their comment at the end. Awww, dude, you're no fun! To cure yourself of this anti-fun, try speculating in the comments about what's going to happen in the next installment. To an author, this is like rubbing a dog's belly. Besides, you never know, you may prompt the author to have an idea to make the series even better.
The Mercenary Lurker - We've all been there. You read a fic from a big-time rec, then you notice it has sixty comments. Surely there's nothing you have to add, right? And they've got sixty freaking comments, while you've got a measly four. Yeah, dude, how 'bout you comment on my little indie film before I say how great your summer blockbuster is.
The important thing to remember is that no matter how big or small the author, no matter how you feel about him or her, good feedback is the polite thing to do. Some day you could be disliked by an Aggressive Lurker, or be big enough to be blown off by a Mercenary Lurker. But by giving good feedback, you perpetuate the great circle of squee. It's like the great circle of life, only with less farting warthogs.
But there are those who do not feedback. Banditos who travel from fic to fic, gorging themselves on prose and shipping, then departing without so much as a ":)". These renegades live outside of society, off the grid, invisible to fandom and totally unstoppable. They call themselves... Lurkers.
Now, we all lurk sometimes. And it's not like anyone should feel pressured to comment. A lot of the time, we just don't feel like commenting on a fic that isn't all that. But before we let ourselves off the hook so easily, let's remember that pretty much all of us are at least a little creative. Like respect, and gonorrhea, you've gotta give feedback to get feedback. Unless you're a BNF, but trust me, that only ends in tears.
There are almost as many types of lurkers as there are things to be lurked about. Here are a few.
The Shy Lurker - This is a majority. People who feel they have nothing to say about a fic that the author hasn't already heard, or who feel it would be impolite to point out flaws in the work of someone they barely know. What they don't realize is that the best way to make new friends is to comment on their fic.
The Harried Lurker - Again, this is most of us. We just want to spend our lunch break reading a one-shot, we don't have time to write an essay about how good it is. In fact, by the time we're called back to work, we've probably forgotten all about it. This lurker will find time to comment when he or she can, but unfortunately that's rare. If you are a Harried Lurker, try bookmarking or adding the fic to memories for later, so you can comment on it at leisure. Your author will appreciate having that week-old fic get new love and you'll get to enjoy a good fic all over again.
The Quality Lurker - The Quality Lurker is nice enough to leave comments whenever they enjoy a fic, but when they don't enjoy it, they do right by Bambi and decide not to say anything at all in lieu of something nice. Quite reasonable, only this can lead to a hurtful misunderstanding when you don't read something at all.
Author: Here's part one!
Commentor: I love it! Stupendous!
Author: Part two!
Commentor: Amazing! Genius!
Author: Part three!
Commentor: ...
Author: It wasn't that bad, was it?
Commentor: ::crickets chirping::
Author: H-hello? Oh God, it sucked, didn't it? I'LL NEVER WRITE AGAIN!!!
Commentor: What was that, I had my headphones on?
The Aggressive Lurker - A comparatively rare strain, the Aggressive Lurker enjoys an author's fics, but doesn't enjoy the author. So they read (and enjoy) the fic, but they don't leave a comment because that bastard author doesn't deserve to be told how good his or her fic is. It's basically the same principle as how, if you don't like the Foo Fighters as people, you can go into their concerts and listen to their music for free. They rate a solid 4.5 out of 10 on the Sardonic "Nice"-O-Meter.
The Zerg Lurker - Mutated and bred from the Hydralisk genus, the Lurker represents one of the deadliest strains found in the Zerg Swarm. These subterranean dwellers serve as defensive warriors for the core Hive Clust
Wait a minute...
::checks::
Frell. I suppose I'll have to jettison all this stuff about the Protoss.
The WIP Lurker - The WIP Lurker will read serial fics, but they only leave their comment at the end. Awww, dude, you're no fun! To cure yourself of this anti-fun, try speculating in the comments about what's going to happen in the next installment. To an author, this is like rubbing a dog's belly. Besides, you never know, you may prompt the author to have an idea to make the series even better.
The Mercenary Lurker - We've all been there. You read a fic from a big-time rec, then you notice it has sixty comments. Surely there's nothing you have to add, right? And they've got sixty freaking comments, while you've got a measly four. Yeah, dude, how 'bout you comment on my little indie film before I say how great your summer blockbuster is.
The important thing to remember is that no matter how big or small the author, no matter how you feel about him or her, good feedback is the polite thing to do. Some day you could be disliked by an Aggressive Lurker, or be big enough to be blown off by a Mercenary Lurker. But by giving good feedback, you perpetuate the great circle of squee. It's like the great circle of life, only with less farting warthogs.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 11:10 am (UTC)*ahem* or so a friend told me...
no subject
Date: 2009-06-06 05:21 am (UTC)published" posted. So I never offered again. I didn't want to scare my fic-flist away; our comm is already so fringe, it's not even showing up on Google-fu.That said, as a lurker on your own LJ, I promise to do better by you and will you be posting moar of these tropes please? Reading them has been fun.