Are you a lurker? Here comes National Delurking Week!!!

I know, you’re probably shaking your head thinking, "what???" So did I when I first saw this after fellow b5media blogger Angela, over at Breastfeeding 123 told the channel about it. Starting on Sunday, January 4th, it’s National Delurking Week, so it would be great if you would speak up and let me know you’re there!

If you think about it, it does kind of make sense.

After all, millions of people are reading websites and blogs, right? You’re one of them, and there are millions more like you out there maybe even reading this post. But you (maybe), again like millions of others, won’t leave a comment on the blogs you read. I know, I can be the same way. Heck, I *am* the same way, forget the "can be" part.

But I’ll tell you something from a writer and blogger’s point of view. Comments keep us going. Comments encourage us to write more stuff for you. Comments help us from slowly going crazy because we think that no-one cares about what we’re writing. We do know, deep down, that you do care, because many of you keep coming back, but we’d so love to hear from you too.

If you need a little hand-holding, I can do that:

How do you comment? At the bottom of each post is a link that says how many comments are there. If it says "0 comments," then you can be the first! Just click on the link, the one that says "0 comments" or however many there are, and you will be led to the comments section.

You’ll be asked your name (put in whatever name you like, this isn’t to ID you, it’s to give you a handle of sorts), your email address and website if you have one. If you don’t like giving your email address, you can get a "throw away" one from gmail, yahoo, or hotmail, just to name a few. The emails don’t go anywhere but the dashboard for the blog and the only person that sees it is the blogger. In this case – that would be me. Emails are good because sometimes people leave messages that would make a great starting point for a post, but I like to ask permission from the poster. Or, if there’s more information I can provide, this way I can contact you. But if you’re really spooked about it, just get a throwaway email address – I have that for a few places on insisting knowing my email.

The website section is just so you can let other readers know about your site if you have one and you want. If you don’t, just leave it blank. And then write your comment.

Unfortunately, I have to leave my comments on moderated status. This means you won’t see your comment right away. You wouldn’t believe the *hundreds* (yes, hundreds) of sickening spam emails I get every day. I’m no prude by any stretch of the imagination, but I really don’t want to be reading most of what the spammers send me. Also, some people try to use blogs as a forum for their advertising. That’s not a good idea. So, the comments go into moderation – I get emails saying they’re there and I go and allow them or spam them, whichever the case may be.

I try to do this right away, but it’s not always possible. Although it does seem as if I’m chained to my computer, I do step away from it every so often. Shocking, huh? ;-)

You’re there… I know you’re peaking….let me know you’re there!

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Computer screen image used with permission from Angela and "Weirdvis"

Eye image: iStock.com

Tags:  national delurking week