Joining a newsgroup but saying or contributing nothing.
Lurking is the act of joining a newsgroup or mailing list and just listening without contributing. This is a perfectly respectable thing to do, and lurkers probably account for 90% of the readership in some cases. It's claimed that famous rock stars lurk on their fans mailing list to find out what people really think of them. TV script writers often do the same. The act of breaking one's silence in this context is called de-lurking.
Reading a newsgroup without posting to it.
Reading the email or articles in a discussion group or newsgroup without contributing or posting messages.
subscribing to a discussion group and reading other people’s messages without contributing yourself: not a bad idea if you are new to the group, though netiquette suggests you should at least send a ‘hello’ email to introduce yourself from the outset.
No active participation on the part of a person to a mailing list , IRS channel. A person who is lurking is just listening to the discussion. Lurking is encouraged for beginning users who wish to become acquainted with a particular discussion before joining in.
No active participation by a subscriber to a mailing list, a conference, or Usenet newsgroup. A person who is lurking is just listening to the discussion.
Regularly monitoring Usenet newsgroups, IRC sessions, or CUSeeMe without contributing to the conversation or otherwise making your presence known. Delurking is making your presence known after lurking by typing in a message and joining the conversation. Sometimes it’s a good idea to "lurk before you leap," so you can get a good idea of the nature of the group and appropriate netiquette so you don’t get flamed once you begin to participate.
Listening to (reading) a newsgroup's discussion without participating in the on-going chats.
Observing a chat line or group without speaking. This is considered bad "netiquette".
Browsing and reading information in a newsgroup, IRC channel, etc., without posting. It is a good idea to "lurk" in a group for a while, read the FAQ, make sure you know what direction the "conversation" is taking and to get a feel for group dynamics.
Passively watching the conversation on an IRC channel, in a News Group, a mailing list, or any other applicable Internet communication device. Beginners often lurk in order to get up to speed on what is occurring in the communications group or learn the group's etiquette.
Subscribing to a newsgroup or mailing list, but only reading postings, and not participating. Newbies are best advised to do this for awhile, until they get the feel of it all.
reading the contributions to a virtual community (q.v.) without actively participating. It is usually good etiquette to lurk in a community for a while before contributing.
Reading postings in a forum without interacting with those postings, by contributing.
Lurking involves simply listening or watching and not participating on an IRC channel, a mailing list, or some other type of Internet connection.
Reading online messages or chat room conversations without taking part in the discussion. Users are encouraged to lurk in the Newsgroups or chat rooms until they have some idea what the discussion is about an the style is like.
Reading the e-mail or articles in a discussion group or news group, without contributing or posting messages.
Belonging to a newsgroup, forum or list and reading messages but not joining in.
It means that a subscriber to an mailing list or USENET newsgroup is just listening to the discussion but he doesn't partecipate. See also: Electronic Mail, Mailing list, Usenet.
No active participation on the part of a subscriber to an mailing list or USENET newsgroup. A person who is lurking is just listening to the discussion. Lurking is encouraged for beginners who need to get up to speed on the history of the group. See also: Electronic Mail, mailing list, Usenet. [Source: LAQUEY
reading the postings in a discussion forum but not contributing to the discussion. Mailing list: a list of e-mail addresses grouped together as an alias such that a message sent to the list goes to all the addresses on that list. Example: Listserv and Majordomo are mailing list processors.
Lurking refers to receiving posts from a list for some time before daring to submit your own ideas and questions into the discussion. It is a good idea to lurk for a week or two in order to get a feel for the culture of the list, understand the threads of conversation, and learn the vocabulary, abbreviations, and insider shorthand.
Reading chat, forum, or newsgroups messages and not responding to them.
Reading chat, forum, newsgroup or listserv messages without responding to them.
A person is lurking when he/she reads the postings in a discussion forum but does not contribute to the discussion. It is important for online instructors and students to be somewhat accepting of lurkers since students have different learning styles and some learn better by listening. However, it is also important to encourage lurkers to become active participants in order for them to take full advantage of online learning.
To read through mailing lists or newsgroups and get a feel of the topic before posting your own messages. It is considered good netiquette to "lurk" a while before joining an online discussion. See Also: Netiquette, Netizen, Spam, Trolling
Observing but not participating in an activity, usually a UseNet newsgroup.
To read a network newsgroup or electronic mailing list and not post any messages; usually considered to be good netiquette for those unfamiliar with the newsgroup. Most regular participants appreciate new contributors getting the feel of the discussion before jumping in.
No active participation on the part of a subscriber to an mailinglist or USENET newsgroup. A person who is lurking is justlistening to the discussion. Lurking is encouraged for beginnerswho need to get up to speed on the history of the group. Seealso: Electronic Mail, mailing list, Usenet.[Source: LAQUEY] LYNX browser
The act of reading through mailing lists and newsgroups before posting any messages. Considered good netiquette to get the feel of the topic before joining in.
The act of reading through maillists and newsgroups without posting any messages. Considered good netiquette to get the feel of the topic before adding your own two cents. InfoGrid consolidates popular news and information from over 3000 news sources, 12 top internet search engines, 16,000 direct-links, 6.1 million Open Directory links, 35,000 usenet news forums, top internet auctions and vendors without advertising. This Online InfoGrid contains 10% of total links. To upgrade click on UpGrade Now InfoGrid is best viewed with ActivatorDesk, Internet Explorer or Netscape 6.