Embrace the stalker

Many companies using social media today are obsessed with public engagement and how to get more out of it. While that’s a big priority in social media marketing, I often have to sit down with clients and talk about the ‘lurker’.

In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chat room, file-sharing, or other interactive system, but rarely or never actively participates. Research indicates that “lurkers make up over 90% of online groups” **Wikipedia

Most companies are dismayed by the ratio of lurkers per active user. One even told me, “I don’t care about people who don’t participate, I only care about people who do.”

The marauder/participant relationship

90% of users are Lurkers (people who do not actively participate in Forums/Groups/Pages, etc.)

9% of users are casual contributors (people need an answer to a question or a specific comment about something that is relevant to them)

1% of users are active users (sometimes called power users) they contribute approximately 91% of user content

Why do the marauders lurk?

We’ve all ‘stalked’ in one way or another when browsing the web. After all, have you posted a comment on every site you’ve been to that gives you the option?

Prowlers enjoy reading conversations and stories that other users have contributed to the site for educational or entertainment purposes, or seeking expert advice. Imagine having a problem with your computer and using Google to search for an answer, when you click on a link to a forum where someone else has asked the question and someone else has answered it, so you don’t need to post a question because you have found what what are you looking for. Great examples of these sites are Yahoo Answers and eHow.

Some lurkers do not post to a blog, forum, or Facebook group/page for more personal reasons, such as

• do not feel competent in the topic being discussed
• do not want to be called out or ridiculed for their opinion
• they have bad writing skills (a bit like me)
• are cybershy and don’t want to post in public

Get the marauders involved

• Have a discussion or ‘sticky post’ asking people to introduce themselves and be sure to thank each one of them.
• Create content with participation in mind, including some fun and entertaining talking points, polls, and questions.
• Create a culture of participation. Give ‘bonuses’, ‘awards’ and/or recognition to first-time posters and multiple posters.
• Forum, group and page administrators and moderators must rule with an iron fist when it comes to negative and demeaning comments.

It is important to remember that you will never get all the Lurkers to participate. It’s human nature, so stop worrying! Some people are listeners and some are talkers, but they are all important!