Re: Bottom feeders

[John Beck <jbeck at eng.sun.com>]

Keith> I honestly don't know how many of the 'lurkers' in any particular room
Keith> are actively participating in some WG versus how many are lurking in
Keith> all of them. but I do know that a large number of lurkers is harmful
Keith> to a WG's ability to conduct a useful meeting.

How so?  If they're just lurking, the only harm I could see is taking up
space in the room.  I started out more or less lurking, mainly just to make
sure people didn't try to do something stupid in my areas of interest.  But
gradually over time I found I was able to participate at a more meaningful
level.  So lurking can be a Good Thing, from a certain point of view.

-- John