Being labeled a "Lurker"

[Zapster]

I was dismayed to have been shut out of this forum yesterday with the insinuation that I (and other like me) am a "Lurker". No, I don't post lots of content onto this forum, I didn't realize that was a prerequisite for continued membership. I very much enjoy this forum and truly appreciate all the hard work the posters, Admin & Mod's do here. I run my own forum (not adult oriented) so I am cognizant of all the work that goes into running one.

[danberose]

If one doesn't contribute with either time nor money there really isn't much to be dismayed about. I too was shut out for a while, but hey that's what goes around. Being labelled "a lurker" is rather prestigious, not everyone puts in the effort of viewing pictures of naked women to such an extent to become a lurker.

*sarcasm*

[Charlie Drizzle]

JMHO, I don't think there's anything wrong with being a lurker. Everyone doesn't have something to contribute. Frankly, I think most of the regular posters post for the benefit of the 'lurkers'. Posters certainly don't receive any pay for posting. I think most posters simply look for an acknowledgement of appreciation for their efforts which is done by the 'lurker' clicking the 'Thanks' button. Personally, that's the only gauge I have for determining whether to continue posting a particular subject. I post nothing but my original stuff, of which I have tens of thousands of pics, maybe hundreds of thousands on various subjects. I often look at the number of 'Views' and number of 'Thanks'. This brings me to the post above by 'danberose'. I couldn't help but notice that in the five years he's been a member, he's only clicked the 'Thanks' button 16 times. I'm sorry for being critical but if I'd been a 'lurker' for five years and only found 16 post that I 'liked', I'd probably just give up on the site.

[danberose]

I've found way more than 16 things than I like, of which you of course insinuate. What can say; I just don't hit the "thanks" button often. I fully understand that most regular contributors gauge the popularity of threads via this function, and also appreciate some thanks, but evidently I'm just not particularly bothered to use this function. After lurking for many years on various forums I've started to contribute via uploading files, and nice as it is to receive "likes" and "thanks" I don't really care about them and don't increase/decrease "output". However, I see it as "giving back" and also I only regurgitate what I find online, so your and my perception would differ. It's also quiet habitual; I sometimes think that I should hit the button more often, but then usually forget about it and only once in a while when something really makes me stop to think do I occasionally thank the uploader.

For what it's worth: thanks for putting in the time and effort of contributing frequently on this board!

*not sarcasm*

[Klondike]

As for the feedback thing, I don't live and die by the thanks button, but when someone pm's me to say they've been a fan of my work for many years, that means a lot. For years, OCC did not have a thanks button. I monitored things by the "view" count on each pic. That said, if you like something, how long does it take to press that little button? Do it, even get into the habit of doing it if you want to see more of that type of pic. Thats the way I look at it: If you want to see more of that type of content, thank it as a way of saying "more please!"

Lurker is not a particularly flattering term. Fan would be better We post for the audience out there. Call them lurkers or call them fans of naked pics. Lurker implies someone who's presence is not that appreciated. But I appreciate anyone who appreciates what I post. But I think to avoid being labeled a lurker, try to be more open in your appreciation. That way you can go from lurker to fan and still not have to worry about the fact that you don't post material yourself. Lurker also implies silent....so just be less silent..

In fact, this has given me an idea - I thought: what would happen if I started a thread down here in this section just for silent lurkers. I could call it "The lurker's corner-speak up!" or something. It would be for anyone who just wants to express their general appreciation for OCC and for the content that they like. As a feedback mechanism, it would be something I would look at. What do you think?

Klondike

[Barmixer]

Originally Posted by Klondike

As for the feedback thing, I don't live and die by the thanks button, but when someone pm's me to say they've been a fan of my work for many years, that means a lot. For years, OCC did not have a thanks button. I monitored things by the "view" count on each pic. That said, if you like something, how long does it take to press that little button? Do it, even get into the habit of doing it if you want to see more of that type of pic. Thats the way I look at it: If you want to see more of that type of content, thank it as a way of saying "more please!"

Lurker is not a particularly flattering term. Fan would be better We post for the audience out there. Call them lurkers or call them fans of naked pics. Lurker implies someone who's presence is not that appreciated. But I appreciate anyone who appreciates what I post. But I think to avoid being labeled a lurker, try to be more open in your appreciation. That way you can go from lurker to fan and still not have to worry about the fact that you don't post material yourself. Lurker also implies silent....so just be less silent..

In fact, this has given me an idea - I thought: what would happen if I started a thread down here in this section just for silent lurkers. I could call it "The lurker's corner-speak up!" or something. It would be for anyone who just wants to express their general appreciation for OCC and for the content that they like. As a feedback mechanism, it would be something I would look at. What do you think?

Klondike

I find that I click "like" if I save a particular pic, or series of pics. I also do so if I take the time to enlarge it and admire it for a while.

I just do not understand when I post a zip, and get hundreds of views and only a few thanks.

[Charlie Drizzle]

I can agree with most of what Klondike says. Posters generally are posting for the benefit of others. But in my case the 'views' and 'thanks' are a bit more critical. I don't mean to insinuate that I'm special. Heck, my post don't even come close to the numbers of Klondike, Pedro, and some of the other regular posters. I don't post in what I call 'mainstream' threads(upskirts, beach, flash, candid, etc.) which have a huge following. Instead I post primarily 'biker' related stuff. Yes, I have other stuff, old girlfriends, many of who were dancers that I plan to post in one of the hardcore groups someday. But I wanted to keep it all grouped by topic. And I had hoped to generate interest and postings from other bikers. There's a lot of cameras at these events. Yes, I could have busted up the pics, posting some in the 'candid' and some in the 'flash' threads and received more views and thanks. In fact, many people are posting 'flash' pics from motorcycle events in those threads, probably for better exposure, when I wish they'd contribute to the 'biker' thread.

What makes the 'views' and 'thanks' so critical for me is the effort. I know, poor, poor Charlie. No, seriously. When I started posting here I started posting pics from scans from basically 3 Harley events before there was 'digital' and was working my way up, I think I got to maybe 2005 or 2006. I recently decided to back up and do a few 'black' biker events for variety, starting with the Black Bike Week in 1997. I had originally scanned them at 800x600, 150dpi. That was 'the size' back then. In preparation I re-scanned, from negatives, about 400 pics at 1200dpi for starters. When I was posting the 'Harley' stuff I was getting 20-30 thanks on each post. Since I started the 'Black Bike Week' post(currently 12 post) the number of 'views' and 'thanks' has dropped significantly. As of this moment no post has generated more than 13 'thanks' and none of the last 8 post has generated more than a half dozen 'thanks'. Is it the quality of the scans? Is it a lack of interest in 'black' events? Is it the lack of tits(black events are all about the butts)? I'm not really sure. But regardless, the time and effort to clean the decade old negatives and scan them is wasted if people aren't appreciating them. It's a whole lot easier to just post the 'Harley' events, especially the 'digital' ones. I'll continue with that 'event' until I finish the ones that I've re-scanned but I won't re-scan any more unless I see a change in interest, although I might post some 'digital' ones to see if the scan quality was the issue, which I don't expect to be the case.

As for Barmixer's comments, I agree whole-heartedly. I'm 65 now and don't really collect porn anymore. But occasionally I see a special pic here and there. If it's special enough to dl to my computer, I owe it to the poster to 'Thank' him/her.

[Klondike]

Charlie, guys like you are an extremely valuable commodity at OCC. I hope that the lack of thanks will not deter you from continuing to post from your vast collection. When you dangle terms like "tens of thousands" with reference to how many pics you have taken, my pulse quickens a bit. It would be my privilege to have in my collection the complete works....

Klondike

[Mudbug]

Damn it!!! I guess that I'm a "Lurker" also!
I look at at hundreds or maybe thousands of photos everyday
and I only click "Thanks" a few times a day and to top that off
I don't have many posts. So, if looking and not posting makes one
a "Lurker"... I fit the bill. However, I don't steal the photos here and
post them elsewhere. So, maybe... I'm not all that terrible.

Mudbug

[danberose]

Klondike; I understand where you're coming from and I've almost "doubled" my "thanks" in only a couple of days.

Charlie; all though the biker stuff isn't exactly what really excites me, I still applaud your efforts. Regarding the issue of your declining "thanks", perhaps you could open a poll with a few options of the various biker pictures you have and gauge which category has the most amount of fans . Of course I can relate to your problem on a more general level: it doesn't feel very worthwhile to put in a considerable level of effort which is largely unappreciated.

However, I wouldn't go so far as to agree with you that one "owes it to the up-loader" to thank them. I do spend a fair amount of time on this board from time to time, and so many threads contain duplicates and triplicates, and viewing the board in it's entirety quadruplicates, quintaplicates (I thank google for this word) and so forth. I'm in no position whatsoever to be annoyed at this, all though "between the two of us" it does kind of irritate me slightly, particularly when the file name has been changed. There is a difference between original up-loaders and those who merely regurgitate. I can't understand why someone who downloads something has to change the name of a file, often to something like "1543559916" before uploading it again. I don't know exactly how common these two opposing practices are, but many times the file name is the same, and many times the file name has been changed. Personally, if I were to frequently thank up-loaders (I'm by no means claiming that this is the reason as to why I've barely thanked anyone during 5 years - that would be really lame), I wouldn't thank anyone that uploads downloaded material after re-naming it - unless it was an incredible picture and also very rare. This board is administered in a friendly manner; some other boards have dislike as an option. Largely speaking, I don't even see the point in thanking people for regurgitating stuff that is as frequent as an ant in an anthill.

As I said in my previous post, I've recently started to re-post stuff on various forums that I've found online. However, I only contribute where I see a genuine need. A few days ago I uploaded many videos in the rapidshare section (my only contribution during 5 years on this board, mind, and also the reason why I posted in this thread - in order to "amass" 10 posts before being allowed to post url's) belonging to the same thread and where almost all of the files had been deleted for a long time. I'm going to do the same with a couple more of those threads in the coming period. Personally I don't give a rat's ass of how many thanks I receive (all though my ego will cause me to check on it from time to time), as I'm "giving back" and my contribution is in many cases trifle in comparison to the effort of the original up-loader. As I said,; our perspectives are very different.