Delurking

Delurking and its related term, lurking, indicate that social media and online forums make it easy for users to view ongoing conversations and activities without personal input. Many users develop a habit of commonly viewing social media threads or similar elements, like forums, without involvement or interaction. Users often delurk when an issue triggers a relevant feeling. Delurking also may be a component of market research or used for other types of analysis of online users and habits.

Participation distinctions between social media platform protocols is an important factor. On some blogs, proprietary forums or other Web spaces, administrators make it difficult to comment on threads or conversations. Users may encounter delays, or comments may require administrator approval. Also, posting may require that a user enter identifying information or even join a system.

In contrast, social media sites like Facebook do not present these difficulties, assuming that each user has an associated profile. This goes a long way toward opening user communication.