Technical jargon: What does "lurker" mean?

We've all been one at some point when we drift through social media, usually out of boredom and without purpose. A lurker (from the English "to lurk," which translates most accurately into German as "to lurk" or "to sneak") is a passive participant on a social media channel (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) or newsgroup, forum, or other gathering in the virtual world. He or she reads, is amused, amused, disgusted by what is published out there by people, but - and this is the unappealing thing about it - without recognizing the publishers.Strangely enough, we allow the platforms on which we do this to collect, evaluate and exploit everything about us. Agreed, since the Facebook scandal and May 27 (introduction of the EU's new data protection regulation), we do this perhaps a little less than we already do. But why do we only want to reveal ourselves to the providers of the social networks, but not to the people we know personally or at least call our friends or followers?

Silent majority to come forward

Reading what others write but not revealing anything about themselves is a widespread phenomenon. And it also has a name: Lurker. The word itself sounds like a creepy animal that you would rather not meet at night. We are lurkers out of shyness or calculation, as cognitive information seekers or affective experience types, lurking (the proper name of the activity) knows different motivations.But in a world where posters and twitterers (people who do just the opposite and post or tweet everything and every emotion) or trolls (people who get publicly upset about everything and everyone) call the shots, it's time to come out as a lurker or stop being one and actively shape what happens in the world.*Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He created the section "Vom Fach" in the NZZ FOLIO and was in charge of it for years. He presents and decodes words and terms that can be used either for small talk, being important, getting excited, playing Scrabble or simply for fun.