lurker

lurker

slang A person who peruses or frequents an online community, such as a forum, message board, or comment section, without leaving a comment or post of one's own. I've been a lurker on this site since the early 2000s, but recently I've felt motivated to contribute some of my own writing. There are a vocal minority on here who will shout down dissenting opinions, but I think most of the lurkers on our site are actually pretty tolerant and reasonable.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

lurker

n. someone who reads the messages in an Internet new group without out responding or participating. (Sometimes considered derogatory.) These lurkers read everything but never contribute.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • lurk
  • comment about
  • comment about (someone or something)
  • comment (up)on (someone or something)
  • TL;DR
  • I like pie
  • snide
  • snide comment
  • Tl
  • TL;DNR
References in periodicals archive
Furthermore, learners were categorized into lurker and posters.
Increasing Information Reposting Behavior in Online Learning Community
El primero estaria cerca del rol del lurker puesto que la trivia implica una posicion mas pasiva que el juego de rol).
Webs televisivas y sus usuarios: un lugar para la narrativa transmedia. Los casos de "aguila roja" y "juego de tronos" en Espana
But a recent switch may have led the species to adopt a role as a plant lurker and become a pathogen.
A partnership apart: DNA in hand, scientists dissect and redefine the iconic lichen mutualism
Like, 'We'll shock All Blacks,' roars blindside lurker Arnold Nutstrampler (thanks Gren).
Why would we wantto be Dubai's double?
The survey does not reflect factors from the user or "lurker" perspective.
Keeping faculty online: the case of Merlot
Parent Talk also attracts many onlookers, known in the Trinity cyber-community as "lurkers." One Lurker, Andrea Shelton, is a Trinity grad whose eldest son does not attend Trinity.
The payoffs of parent outreach: listservs, e-mails, and interactive web programs are just a few of the tools IHEs are using to keep parents better connected to the campus and to their children
"JMS Speaks," in the "Passing Through Gethsemane" guide page of The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 (Steven Grimm, ed.) 18 Sept.
Brothers of Perpetual Responsibility: monasticism, memory, and penance in Cassutt, Donaldson, and Straczynski (1)
[mailto:christina@MirandaNet.ac.uk] Sent: Thursday, 20 January, 2000 8:37 PM To: mirandalink@MirandaNet.ac.uk Subject: mirandalink Are you a lurker? It is a published rule of thumb that of registered mail list user one third are active one third read one third are not really engaged Is this true?
MirandaNet: a learning community--a community of learners
Only the surface, as it appears to the casual browser or lurker, is brought out.
The Talmud and the Internet
Countryside: I have been a "lurker" of your magazine for years.
Consider communications
Converting a lurker into an active online learner is uncomfortable for lurkers.
Eight Ways to Get Students More Engaged in Online Conferences
Don't let flamers frighten you into becoming a lurker - one who reads messages but never posts anything.
Net.Speak: The Internet Dictionary
Suzan Revah, AJR's associate editor, is a confirmed lurker.
It's a jungle out there in cyberspace
His writings were further collected in The Outsider and Others (1939), Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1943), Marginalia (1944), The Lurker at the Threshold (1945), The Best Supernatural Stories of H.P.
Lovecraft, H(oward) P(hillips) (1890-1937)
"The receipt of pass-through status and the assignment of a C-code from CMS marks another important step forward in our commercialization preparation for DEXYCU," said Nancy Lurker, President and Chief Executive Officer of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals.
EyePoint jumps 8.5% after CMS approves C-code for DEXYCUTM