Ask Hilarious Chaos @hilariouschaos.com Alice @hilariouschaos.com 2w ago

Why Do ppl on lemmy lurk more then interact or post anything?

23 comments

That's not limited to Lemmy. It's what happens across all social media. A tiny percentage of people will post, a larger percentage will comment, and the vast majority will lurk. The general numbers I've heard thrown around are 1-9-90, but the posters and commenters are probably much lower than 1% and 9%. Especially as platform size increases.

As for why, and this is hazarding a guess: posting takes effort, commenting takes less, and lurking takes the least.
- Kinda sucks don't you think?
  
  Yes, but the more we comment and post the more likely it is new memebers will stay which eventually leads to more posters and commenters
  
  No. I prefer signal rather than noise.
I don’t think the ratio is that far off from reddit. Getting involved takes effort. Up votes take none
- True. But isn't that boring though?
  
  Depends on the person i guess. Most seem content just scrolling. shrug
I lost count of the times I started typing a post or comment and either couldn't come up with the right phrasing to convey what I want, or just decided that my dumb comment wasn't worth posting.
- Over analysis paralysis
  
  Exactly.
I think most people treat it as a news/content aggregator service...

Much of the time the perfect comment has also already been made.
- Yea true, that's a good point
It is easier to read than to type
What makes you think they do that?
That's just who I am. A lurker by nature. A browser in the night. I'm... Lurkman?
- What makes you not want to post?
yes
- But why though

23 comments