Recap: Spanko Brunch 2.0 for December 6

How can we encourage more bloggers to participate in Love our Lurkers days? Here's what you said:

Rosco: You and others permit anonymous comments. That works for me. Others may still be more cautious. I really don't want my sexual and spanking interests to be public - and I think most people feel that way. 

I am reluctant to give my email address even when someone says they will not post or share it. I suppose I should get another email address for only this purpose, but I am not exactly sure how to do it securely.

"Bottom" line - I suspect lurkers worry anonymity will be compromised.

Alan: I do participate if I have something relevant to say. And it is fun to do so. However I probably would participate more if there was a real dialogue rather than the monologues that are more likely. Maybe it’s the nature of the format but I bet there would be more participation if there was more discussion.

Minielle: Hi Hermione, I think many of us know bloggers who have stopped blogging due to life’s many challenges. I believe some think when they disappear they can’t come back, or they no longer have much to say... I left for a while and wondered if I should stop, but I’m trying again. Maybe having friends reach out...

Wendel: I think all the other social media platforms overshadow blogging. Every event, TV show, restaurant and product has a Twitter, Facebook and Instagram link. You never here the local news anchor say: "Follow us on Blogger". Walmart: "Check out all the holiday bargains on Blogger". The other thing is that all the newer platforms are more real-time. People get alerts on the phone when someone makes a quick comment and they can immediately comment back. Fast and furious. Most probably think of Lurking as a Facebook thing now.
Some sort of advertisement on the other social media platforms would help remind people Blogging is still around.

KDPierre: You specifically asked about LOL participation but the comments reveal an interest in overall blog participation in general. Two separate issues I believe. The latter is complex and I might actually do a full post on it since it would take too much space here to properly cover it all. But as to your main question, I think the answer is as simple as asking if ANYONE has ever benefitted long-term from LOL-Day participation?

For me it HAS both in years past and this year as well......but NOT in the spirit that LOL is intended. I have never gotten a lurker to convert to becoming a participant past LOL day itself. What I HAVE gotten.....repeatedly.....is exposure to other active bloggers who 'discover' my blog from LOL-Day exposure and stick around. And that to me is very telling. Lurkers are by their nature lurkers. Bloggers are by their nature active participants. Neither seem inclined to change.

So LOL-Day might better be called: "Here are some good blogs you might have missed"-Day and be targeted to fellow bloggers. As you know I have long since given up on "lurkers". I know others have as well because they have told me so. Pursuing lurkers is a waste of energy, but pursuing other bloggers seems to be much more rewarding.

I think if past LOL participants saw LOL-days result in converted lurkers, you would not have seen the drop-off in participants. But I'd be VERY curious to hear from ANYONE who has actually had a lurker make such a transition and become an active commenter aa a result of LOL-Day.

So if more participation is the goal, perhaps the concept should change from a futile attempt to convert lurkers to participants to a day where blogs interconnect to boost exposure among those of us who care to comment.

Lastly, I would also say that MAYBE the conversion goal of LOL-Day might be better achieved a different way: by example. We have a pretty tight community. I'm sure there are a lot of us who recognize each other's names from comments on other blogs and a lot of us have long lists of blogs posted on our own. But how many of us non-lurkers make the effort to regularly comment on each other's blogs? I know some do, some don't and I myself try but don't always cross-participate as often as I probably should. So what does our own behavior tell a lurker? Maybe if comments were flying about freely and were scintillating and in-depth rather than brief phrases of praise, we would appear to be an enviable salon party where others would be eager to want to get in on the action? We bloggers can't be semi-lurkers ourselves and then try to lecture true lurkers to behave better. It's like a smoking parent telling their kid not to smoke.

Roz: A great question Hermione and some interesting comments above. I really don't know but I do also wonder if blogger just isn't the preferred platform nowdays. I also think many bloggers drop off due to life changes or don't feel they have much to say. In this case I think they would be less likely to encourage lurkers to de-lurk.

The above are the main reasons I don't post now, but I always enjoy keeping in touch with everyone and visiting their blogs. I have made such amazing friendships from blogging. Perhaps that fact should be promoted more?

PK: We see spanking pictures from more than 100 years ago and I have no doubt there will still be interest in another 100 years so we know that’s not it. I think young people see blogging as old fashioned just as they are beginning to see facebook – it’s something that their parents do. But I don’t like the new mediums where your words are limited. But, maybe we should ‘advertise’ out blogs there. Put something on twitter or Instagram when we have a good spanking post up to try to lure them over. That is if I can figure out how.

For older folks (like many of us) I wish we could stress the safety. I was so scared of being ‘outed’ in the beginning. And it’s just not an issue. Everyone is in the same boat, and hopefully they know that those of us who have been here for more than a decade wouldn’t have stayed if there was danger and wouldn’t have lasted if we’d BEEN a danger. I also wish we could stress the friendships that can develop. That was what got me – making new, close friendships in my fifties. I was amazed and thrilled. 

Glenmoretales: Quite frankly, the reason my blog does not participate is that it is not worth my time.
I have no time for lurkers who stop by regularly to enjoy blog content but are too lazy or  inconsiderate to leave a comment or a word of appreciation. Lurkers are nothing more than freeloaders and I see no valid reason to reach out to them as they will never change.

Like KD I may make my blog private by invitation only so that only appreciative people stop by the blog. I would say LOL is a concept that is past its time.

Bonnie: One word: Twitter. Microblogs are blogs and there are more now than ever. These are spankos and they are bloggers. I suggest it might be time to join their community as we invite them to become part of ours. It's not an either-or proposition. Bloggers like Erica have sustained great success by advertising her Wordpress posts using pinned tweets.

After saying all that, I have to admit that I have no Twitter account. So that makes me a major lurker. I will guess that there are great many more Twitter lurkers. In preparation for LoL XVI, perhaps we engage with friends on that platform and invite them join the festivities.

Prefectdt: A lot of bloggers don't seem to be as interactive with other bloggers, as they used to be when I first started blogging. Perhaps a lot of blogs did not participate simply because they did not realize that the event was going on.

To email all potential participants must have been a gargantuan task and I don't know how Bonnie used to manage that and I do not think that it would be the best way to get the message out now.

Perhaps, when you announce LOL day, the regular participants here could try commenting on potential participants' blogs from bloggers that might not visit this blog much. A simple message of what LOL day is, when it is happening and ask if they might be prepared to participate. If enough of your regular visitors here do that we could raise awareness amongst a lot more blogs.

I would be happy to lend a helping keyboard.

Hermione: I took a look at Bonnie's first Love our Lurkers event, and out of 43 bloggers who participated, five of those blogs still exist, and only one is active now. There was more of a sense of community back then, which is what drew me to becoming a blogger myself. Bloggers would hold virtual surprise parties, and everyone would join in. That sense of community has diminished as other platforms have become popular.

Thank you all for your observations and suggestions. You have given me much food for thought.