The Life of a Social Media Lurker

A few days ago, I sat next to a friend scrolling through her social media page during a friendly gathering.

As I was observing her behavior, I noticed that she was scrolling through her social media feed for nearly 20 minutes while also listening to our conversation with the rest of our friends.

There is one behavior that caught my attention...

Not once during the 20 minutes of scrolling thru her social media feed did she ever like or comment on any of the content she was consuming.

I was practically sitting next to a REAL LIFE LURKER.

I smiled, and upon realizing that she was a lurker, I reflected on my journey in using social media to build my authority online.

Because at one point in life, I was a LURKER as well.

A LURKER is a person who is active on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

But instead of participating, engaging with others or creating content, they consume information, scroll through their content feeds, passively view texts, images, and videos, or visit other people's profiles regularly.

However, posting, commenting, or liking other people's content is rare or not done at all.

So how did the term LURKERS come around?

Basically, in the internet culture, the rule states that...

90% of internet users are lurkers who only read or observe,

9% of members participated by responding and engaging with content,

and ONLY 1% of internet users are creators.

So at one time in my life, just like my friend, I was also in the 90% club of social media users who decided to stay on the line to observe and consume information.

And I decided to play the LURKER game because deep inside

> I was afraid of having my opinions and thought to be mocked by others;

> I'm not good enough, and I felt that I couldn't provide any values whatsoever (Imposter syndrome);

> I wanted things to be so perfect that I didn't create anything online;

It is a safe environment to be in, where at the end of the day, I can observe and silently judge that 1% of creators who decided to take the leap of faith in creating something online.

But then, sometime in 2018, something happened to me.

It was the day we organized a talk where we invited one of our mentors to speak about LinkedIn for the first time.

For the first time on that day when I was Lurking around LinkedIn, I realized that I was way behind compared to my competitors who are using the LinkedIn platform to build their brand and authority.

They leaped to share their thoughts, ideas, and values that get the audience to engage with them, and, at the same time, my competitors are getting connected and engaging with my clients.

That moment was a wake-up call for me.

At that moment, I realized my business was stagnant because I chose to observe rather than participate.

Playing it safe has consequences when you choose to stay silent and observe. The world will move on without you because you choose to remain silent and not allow the world to know that you might be a gift or a solution to their problems.

Here is the thing about ALL social media platforms, it operates like a karaoke machine in a karaoke competition where anyone can grab the mic and sing.

?? 1% of people grab the mic, they may be horrible at singing, but they are STILL participating and getting noticed;

?? 9% of people will actively listen, they will cheer and engage, and have some fun in the process at least;

?? And there is the 90% audience. The LURKERS who will watch, observe, and, deep inside, maybe judge the singers and talk about them singers.

And most of the time, 90% are missing out on all the juicy, fun and GREAT stuff the 1% are getting.

Because as LURKER you choose not to participate.

And when you choose to refrain from participating, you may also need to realize that It could be a selfish decision because your clients might end up in a situation where they could have been safe by your solution.

But because they can't hear you, they might end up with someone else because you decided to stay silent.

So entrepreneurs, the choice is your...

Do you want to grab the mic and start singing?

or

Stay silent and judge?

Either way, the world will still move on with or without you...

...

#LinkedIn #ContentMarketing #SocialMediaMarketing #PopConFest