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A call to lurkers

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This will reach most Afterworders ,who are northern hemisphere based, tomorrow morning.

It’s a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while so it is time to get it off my chest.

Recently there has been quite a bit of rancour about the blog written in various places. Some of it vented before, cliques, people having felt slighted or insulted by something or someone, too political, too blokey, too misogynist /ironically misogynist, dominated by too few.The Brexit trauma seemed to be the icing on the cake.

So there has been a big drop off in the number of postings and,it seems fewer people posting. this can create a vicious circle as fewer people posting leads to the impression of the blog being “dominated” by a few. This claim sits uncomfortably with me because it is not as if certain posters get priority or go to the head of the queue, or if they write something then someone else cant post something.

The cliques thing is a curious one too. The cliques and who is in them always goes unnamed. IfI am in a clique I assume it is the HP /Concheroo camp. Why ? Because I read their stuff more, am interested in their topics, similar ages and music tastes.I like the arcane detail on artists thst I like. But I like stuff by Tigger, Duco, Twang, Colin H,KFD, DFB, Steve T, Doctor Volume,Foxy,Leedsboy, Bob -when around,James Blast – when around, Faux Geordie – when around, Moose -when around,Bargepole, Mini B, Fatima,My American Mate, GaryJohn, Count Jim when he is not sledging the Aussies ;), etc etc plus some of the more combative writers like Ianess and Niscum. So what clique am I in?

I’ve also been contributing even more than usual of late for 2 reasons .I’m currently looking for work so I have time on my hands. And also I am keeping the embers aglow during this low period on the blog. Johnny Concheroo nee Mojo is back after his sabbatical and has recently retired so he has more time to contribute. HP ,as we all know ,seems to be full on then has his quiet periods. And as I commented elsewhere people are either asking where he is or, it seems grumbling about how prolific HP nee Burt can be when on fire.

Truth is I’m starting to feel like I am “hogging the blog”.So to my point. I occasionally look at who is active on the blog at anyone time and it often surprises me who is on the blog and there are lot of long time names from the blog but most seem to be lurking i.e. reading but not commenting or posting. I wonder why this is. It is not that hard and some threads will fly and others wont. I’ve spent a ot of time on some threads or reviews to little interest but one on roadkill and another on fat drummers seemed to click. ( I think one on drummers who have gotten fat by eating roadkill will be a sure winna).

It’s our blog, it’s a collective – not a subscription mag. It is what we make it.

10

Comments

  1. Anecdote re Concheroo.

    After reading quite a few of his posts and knowing he lived in Perth from some of his postsand the he was going to a show ,was it McLaughlin, I sent him a PM suggesting he get in touch with this guy that used to be on the blog and had very similar musical tastes to him. I thought they’d get along. Yep MojoWorking.

    The prick hadn’t told me he was back on the blog under a new nom de plume- though anyone with half a brain would have made the connection -Mojoworking – Johnny Concheroo. Doh !

    • I think their drummer was called Esso. Funny, the things you remember. I’m not a lurker – I actually thought the site had folded. Until today. I shall return.

  3. I think the drop off could be due to the fact that it’s holiday season in the UK.

    I didn’t realise that people were writing about unhappy about the blog in other places. Thing is, on the whole I don’t think The Afterword gets as confrontational or heated as the old place did. I remember some right old rucks about silly stuff like cliques.

    I don’t think you’re hogging the place Junior, it’s just a bit quiet at the moment that’s all. What we need is, oh I don’t know, a Scottish Independence Referendum or something to get things going again.

    • Has he been driven off? Sure he popped up the other day. To be honest, I always thought (inasmuch as I think about these things) it was a dual account belonging to another regular poster. His (?) posts are so relentlessly one note that I reckon someone has a special account for making them. Surely someone isn’t just trawling the site for perceived digs at the US and then complaining about them but not making any other posts of substance?

  7. As said before it is holiday time in Europe. I for one only really have the time to dip in and out of the AW during the summer (like now with my cup of tea in bed).
    There have always been cliques on here if by cliques you mean like-minded people who like talking to each other. Sometimes those threads can be a little daunting/boring to non-clique members but, hey, it’s all part of our AW world

  9. You might call me a lurker. I read posts far more often than commenting on them. I actually quite like the rucks as well….

    But what’s brought me out of my lurking on this occasion is…. HP is Burt?? And Conch is Mojo??? I honestly never suspected either. And I must not have half a brain either because I don’t get the Mojo Working / Johnny Concheroo name connection – can someone enlighten me?

  10. I like to think I’m in a clique of my own so if any lurkers don’t believe in the moon landings, love the 80’s, think Ronaldo is better than Messi, finds The Beatles hard work and doesn’t understand what “The Beano” album is come and join me for a thread on Howard Jones hair……….

  11. Well I encouraged HP and JC to return when they disappeared for a while, and was in one of the threads on Facebook – which started just to make contact with AW people (this real name business is really confusing) and drifted into why people were less active. It wasn’t a AW hating thing, but it’s fair to say some have not had a good time here and I take their word for it. Personally, as I said in another thread, I had a break as I got really wound up about something and decided I needed to keep away for a bit. There are sometimes posts which I think of as micro trolls – not full on having a pop posts, but just needling, deliberately poking someone in the imaginary back, kind of mean spirited and a bit nasty. I don’t like it, and whilst I missed the old place and looked In occasionally, I didn’t at all miss the sensation that some people just seem to use the place to work out their own personal hang ups by being unpleasant to others. It’s crap and they should shut up.

    As for cliques, I’ve never got this. I’m clearly not in one, but the only time I can remember really thinking this was a problem was when some members took to bitching about posters and threads in parallel discussions on Twitter…and of course, Twitter is not the medium for conversations as it is a public arena – so actually, is is quite deliberately bleating on with a group of pals in a very public way to have a pop from a distance. Not nice. Bitching or bleating is much better done by email or IM, but of course where’s the fun if the people you are bitching about don’t know? Pah, it sucks.

    As for the volume of your posts, I say post, post on brother. There’s nothing to stop others posting too, and without posts, what have we got?

  13. Catch 22, innit? The quality / variety of posts won’t improve unless more clever / funny / engaging people join in, and clever / funny / engaging people won’t join in unless the quality / variety of posts improves. Dunno what the answer is.

    I’m surprised to learn that there’s a whole online industry devoted to following Afterword discussions and moaning about them elsewhere! It’s a bit like complaining about the Government when you wouldn’t be bothered to vote. I suspect this thread will get thousands of views, and probably already has a parallel Facebook commentary going on.

    Hi to all former posters / current lurkers, by the way!

    • And I think ‘engaging’ is a key word. Not every post has to be a Wildean epitome of wit and no one should be put of from putting their tuppence worth in because they think that they can’t write ‘as well’ as others.

    • The first rule of elsewhere? Don’t talk about elsewhere. I bet you guessed that.

      I post/promote the good ship AW wherever I lurk. I’m probably closer to the people I’ve met out in the real world and there are many more I would care to break bread with, plus beer and talking bollocks. If I have nothing to post I can still be found enjoying the wit and wisdom of the place. I don’t always click on the YouTube videos and I avoid most debates about politics and lists. Lionel Blair will always entice me back for more.

    • Thankfully I think the Twitter bitching community have knocked it off, but I wouldn’t really know as I rarely look at Twitter these days. No FB action so far…

    • Re: twitter posts about the afterword… so, people actually *do* this? Fucks sake folks, get over yourselves. Either start posting again on here if you care that much or find another avenue of entertainment. Cuh, really.

  15. I’m more a lurker than anything else I guess. If there was a clique I was in it would probably be the infinitesmally niche one on British jazz of the 60s/70s (Colin H and one or two others). However, this is one of a handful of sites I visit every day so something must be working.

    • Ah, but if we DID start a British jazz clique it would rent asunder within weeks by factional disagreements – those whose posts were free improvisation (lots of words in the wrong order), those whose posts were mainstream (reliable but not very interesting), those whose posts were fusion (between words in English and some other language that no one understood), and those who were writing to the editor of Jazz Journal to complain about last month’s review of Chuck Berry.

  16. I always enjoy your stuff Junior, so please post away. Sometimes a topic takes off, sometimes it doesn’t but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth posting.

    Personally I really enjoy the fact that we have contributors from Oz and NZ. Reading you guys having a natter about Humpty Doo, the Mad Hatter, kangaroo roadkill, the Avalanches, TISM, Darwin, poisonous snakes etc etc is always a treat for me.

    Keep on keeping on Mr Wells!

  18. Good post JW. I think the northern summer hols recess is true, have noticed it before. Cliques – well there are people on here who know each other personally rather than as internet comrades and I think that leads to comments that could be seen as clique-y if that’s a word. So sometimes one can feel left out, which is never pleasant, but inevitable, and that’s where the “wtf it’s only a blog and a bit of fun” attitude needs to kick in.

    I check in here most days, and being at the bottom of the world I often find that threads have had their moment and if I post something it’s kind of a bit late and it’s run out of steam.

    My 2p worth…

    • Snap! Except I don’t have the excuse of being at the bottom of the world.

      I saw this thread first thing this morning and wanted to respond to the “lurker call”, but had to go to work. I have just read through the posts above and was thinking about why I don’t post more and had come up with: (a) limited time; (b) other things to do; (c) nothing to add (on some things) and I was just coming to “(d) coming to things too late” just as I read your post @mousey .

      I feel a bit like the awkward kid in the class when I post late-and-last and no-one responds or replies: all the cool kids have moved on and I’m still bobbing up and down, saying “me too, me too”.

      (Fingers crossed this is not the last post on the “Lurkers” thread….. Oh please, somebody say something!)

  19. Truth is I’m starting to feel like I am “hogging the blog”.So to my point. I occasionally look at who is active on the blog at anyone time and it often surprises me who is on the blog and there are lot of long time names from the blog but most seem to be lurking i.e. reading but not commenting or posting. I wonder why this is. It is not that hard and some threads will fly and others won’t. It’s our blog, it’s a collective – not a subscription mag. It is what we make it.

    I see what you’re saying, but you’re trying to make sense and order of an entity which has no terms and conditions. Why shouldn’t people talk about TAW elsewhere – where is that rule written? Why not do it on Twitter if that’s what they feel comfortable doing?
    I agree that ‘it’ is what ‘we’ make it, and if The Afterword is made into a space where you, or I, or anyone else doesn’t feel like they’re having fun, why should they hang around?
    I’d suggest the attraction of FB or Twitter is that, unlike here, you’re able to block the unconscionable who are likely to put you in a bad mood before the day’s even started. That’s not what I use social media for.

  20. Haven’t posted for ages….

    3 reasons

    1) General work crap
    2) (don’t hit me but…) FB is just easier to surf when one has an odd moment on your phone
    3) and yes I have to admit…the cliques…but I completly accept JW’s points

    ..but this has broken the drought….

  21. I don’t think I said people shouldn’t comment elsewhere thought others might have implied that. I was more referencing the concerns I had encountered.

    Nor am I say we are all bound to stay on th blog and actively contribute. I have said to others if it don’t float your boat anymore, if it causes you angst then do what works for you.

    The thread was posted a call to lurkers after looking at the balance between who is posting and those who are not including some seasoned members I’m not criticising if anything my intention is to encourage.

  22. Posting a bit less than I did, and with less enthusiasm. Probably just the cyclical nature of things and the fact that it often gets a bit sleepy on here in summer, but I also sense that the tone of the blog has shifted a little, and in a way that can make it feel like much harder work. There’s a lot more banter than there used to be (for good and ill), and that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

    I also think that the topics discussed have narrowed considerably, and it’s now harder to post about stuff you like that only a minority of others might enjoy. I don’t know if this is a cause or effect of what definitely feels like a narrowing pool of contributors. Obviously, we’re all free to post what we want, the blog is what we make it, yadda yadda yadda.

    Don’t see any problem with people discussing the blog on social media. There have been tons of allusions to the FB group on here in the last couple of weeks, I don’t see why it can’t be two way traffic, particularly if people aren’t bitching about individuals. For what it’s worth, I dropped in on the FB group last week (hadn’t realised it was still going until recently flagged) and precisely no one was talking about the blog.

    All in all, I can kind of see why folks have drifted away, but I reckon most of them will come back.

    We seem to have these threads all the time now. Maybe we always did.

  23. Let’s use this thread as chance to rummage through our branes and list some ideas for future thread topics. Then, those that can be arsed but need a starting point can pick one and get things rolling. I’ll start:

    1. Peak beard – are we there yet?
    2. Jack Johnson – pleasant sounds or turgid drivel?
    3. Yacht Rock – can we pin down exactly what this is, please.
    4. Vinlys I have loved and lost.
    5. Marital aids through the ages.
    6. Marital aids I have loved and lost.
    7. Chrissie Hynde – would you?
    8. The kitchen appliance you couldn’t live without.
    9. Ooh, He’s Got Some Brass: A Beginner’s Guide to the World of Tijuana.

    Inspiring, huh? No? Well what have YOU got?

  24. Although it’s died down somewhat on here, the Brexit weeks weren’t exactly edifying in terms of the level of discourse (in Britain and here) and the identification of some of the Massive and their cheap arguments. At least we haven’t had to put up with the triumphalist, get-over-it bollocks running in the mainstream press. One thing the referendum has shown, though, is that one’s bias appears to trump any arguments or reasons available: this appears to be given and needs a name.

    So I’m suggesting that, yes, it’s the summer lull, but the Brexit matter has also introduced an unpleasantness which is going to take some getting over.

    • I can smell Brexit like a footbath in a public swimming pool. It’s like a bad dream you want to wake up from, but can’t. I’m metaphored out. It doesn’t affect me much – I never want to come back to the UK to live anyway – but something went horribly wrong. Not a class thing, not a vox pop, not “democracy” … just a feeling that it all went horribly wrong, on every level, before the vote and after. No amount of wrongs (and there were plenty, from the moment Cameron decided to call a referendum) can make a right. It made Britain look small and shabby and stupid to the rest of the world – not just the vote itself, but everything surrounding it, the personalities, the rhetoric, the lies … so yes, that seeped into every aspect of British life. Damaging.

  25. Obviously, the problem is that the Youtube threads have been banned. They are lifeblood of this place and without them, we die!

    Personally, I’m bored with the Beano & The Monkees.Can’t we ban them instead?

    No. The real answer to your question, Junior, is hidden in your OP. You don’t have a life, others do. (I’m kind of in between at the moment, so cannot dedicate as much time to the blog as I’d like).

    I say all this with love xxx

  27. Blimey Mini! I’m inpressed by your knowledge of the Nude Trampolining season. We arrived at our summer cottage on Öland yesterday evening and the very first thing my son wanted to do was erect the trampoline.

    He’s doubtless waiting for me to get my kit off, daub myself in blue paint in honour of the Sea of Hull photo shoot and get bouncing.

    • There was a referendum – you must have noticed. Some people wanted to remain an annex of EU Tube. Others wanted to take back control of the 350m posts a week that were linked to it, and stop the mass emigration of indigenous posters.

  31. I was a lurker and probably more often than I post. 🙂 I have been away and haven’t posted for a few weeks.

    One day, I might even pluck up enough courage to actually start a thread! However, given my habitual procrastination and fundamental inability to say anything interesting, this may be some way off 🙂

  32. For what its worth – as a lurker rather than a contributor – I actually come here regularly because i find the intelligence and humor on here more attractive than the nonsense on FB or Twitter.
    Cant say I agree with everything – but who wants to agree with everything!
    Civilized Arguments on the Internet – can that be an AW T Shirt

  33. My muse went phut ages ago.

    I’m meant to be writing a few bits with some pals too, but I haven’t a sentence in my head that’s worth the calorie of tapping a keyboard.

    i think I need a lie down just for typing the above

  34. OK, you got me. My name is Fifer and I’m a lurker. Actually, I’m just a lazy sod, with a pathetically limited knowledge of all the stuff that all you brain boxes know all about. Not fit to lace all your boots really. However, you have pricked my conscience and I will try to contribute more. There is so much good stuff here that I do want to give and not just take. Mark you, you may regret this!

  35. Observation – so I post a reasonably significant thread on the role and fate of the blog : so far

    160 comments, 1595 views

    Then, not long after, a thread requiring you to transpose the word vagina for a word in a movie title starts up
    118 comments, 756 views

    You gotta laugh

    • ‘Twas ever thus, @junior-wells…this is a thread that requires you to put your brain into gear and address the points raised in the OP, more or less. The vadge movie thread requires no thought at all (apologies to anybody who put a great deal of thought into their contribution).

      There’s a place for both.

  36. Reasons why I personally don’t post as often at the moment:
    1. Lots of UK-centric posts recently – as a Swede I don’t have any opinions about British politics/football/other sports/TV etc.
    2. I’ve been very tired for different health-related reasons.
    3. I was busy making a book for mum’s 85th birthday, no time to spare for anything else until it was done.
    4. It’s been sunny and warm, who wants to sit in front of a computer during days off work?
    5. I get home from work late, most AWers have gone to bed, like Mousey and Pajp said; many threads have run their course, or everything I wanted to say have already been said by someone else. Also, tired. Usually I check in quickly so I won’t miss anything interesting, but then I just want to shut down my brain and see a bad film or something…
    6. No nights out/in lately because; haven’t been to a single gig this year (don’t you worry…I’ll post my annual festival review in a couple of weeks!) and haven’t had time to review any albums lately. Well, apart from my “short” reviews in the Blogger Takeover threads…when plenty of AWers probably wish I would go back to lurking!
    7. The dog ate my homework.

  37. Sorry to hear you’ve been a little poorly @Locust, rootin’ for you.

    The book for your mum sounds intriguing, this nice tradition also prevalent in Germany, less so in Britain or Ireland. Can you post a shot of it possibly?

    Loved #7.

  40. No it isn’t.
    I’ve been a lurker since The Word days.
    I do try and contribute sometimes, but by the time I’ve committed the words to screen
    and checked for spelling, punctuation etc, they don’t seem to make much sense any more.

    I do like a good Afterword curry though.

    Here’s a nice bit of Yacht Rock instead.

  43. Let’s face it, I’ve never been remotely prolific on any incarnations of this blog, but having made most of the London mingles, been to gigs with some of you and commissioned wonderful artworks from @Pencilsqueezer, I still feel part of the community.

    At the start of the year there was a thread about 2015 and I stated how generally upbeat I was about the forthcoming year and had a genuine intention of contributing more to the blog. Within a fortnight that notion had been rammed headlong into a fetid, rotting compost heap. Subsequently, preferring to avoid anything but the most essential of contacts, I’ve retreated further into my well-reinforced shell, choosing the ‘140 characters or fewer’ platform of Twitter to make scattergun pronouncements in the knowledge that with the exception of the occasional retweet or ‘favourite’, any sort of interaction could be avoided.

    I was going to join the Chubby-Checkers briefly (clue: I lost more weight than I’d gained); Blogger Takeover: apart from two gigs on consecutive days back in April, my live music year has been non-existent, albums old and new rarely sufficiently stir the soul enough to write anything vaguely compelling (although Case/Lang/Veirs is fab).

    Despite drifting away periodically, I am still here and still enjoying most of the contributions. If there’s a chance of another London mingle then add my name to the list. If anyone is going the see The Disappointment Choir in Islington on the 13th August I may well be there. In the meantime, for what it’s worth, I’ll endeavour to start posting again. Well prompted JW.

    I feel better for that.

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