Learners on the periphery: lurkers as invisible learners

Lurkers, who are also known as silent learners, observers, browsers, read-only participants, vicarious learners, free-riders, witness learners, or legitimate peripheral participants (our preferred term), tend to be hard to track in a course because of their near invisibility. We decided to address this issue and to examine the perceptions that lurkers have of their behaviour by looking at one specific online learning course: CLMOOC. In order to do this, we used a mixed methods approach and collected our data via social network analysis, online questionnaires, and observations, including definitions from the lurkers of what they thought lurking was. We then analysed the data by using social network and content analyses and interpreted the research findings using the concept Community of Practice, with the Pareto Principle used to delimit types of learner. Our research findings revealed that lurking is a complex behaviour, or set of behaviours, and there isn’t one sole reason why lurkers act the ways that they do in their respective communities. We concluded that for a more participatory community the more active, experienced or visible community members could develop strategies to encourage lurkers to become more active and to make the journey from the periphery to the core of the community

Rethinking lurking

No abstract available

Why do people share their travel experiences on social media?

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceTourism practices are being increasingly affected by social media and recommendations from trusted friends are undoubtedly major influencers in travel decision making. Thus, it is quite interesting to explore the role of social media in a travelling context. It is also crucial to understand why there are people who do not share their experiences, usually known as lurkers. Allied to this, social influence theory and its three constructs – identification, internalization and compliance, have played a critical role in this study, as well as the users’ personality. Based on 381 responses, findings revealed two dominant reasons: first, perceived enjoyment was the most important motive to explain why travellers share their travel experiences on online networks and travel websites. Second, security and privacy issues are at the top of lurking reasons. This study extends the existing literature by combining all online behaviours into one single model. Suggestions for further researches were given

Rethinking lurking

No abstract available

Lurking: a challenge or a fruitful strategy? A comparison between lurkers and active participants in an online corporate community of practice

Neelen, M., & Fetter, S. (2010). Lurking: a challenge or a fruitful strategy? A comparison between lurkers and active participants in an online corporate community of practice. International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 6(4), 269-284.For today’s organizations to obtain competitive advantages, online corporate Communities of Practice (CoPs) are indispensable. However, often the majority of its participants does not post content; they lurk. This paper explores four different perspectives on lurking; that is free-riding, legitimate peripheral participation, microlearning, and knowledge sharing barriers, and analyzes whether and why they are detrimental or fruitful for the knowledge management process. Furthermore, this study compares lurkers and active participants of an online corporate CoP in the light of the perspectives as presented above. First, the results of this study indicate that lurkers use the obtained knowledge on the job and therefore cannot simply be considered free-riders. Second, study results suggest that lurkers use lurking as a learning strategy, which confirms the microlearning hypothesis. Last, the results of this study indicate that knowledge sharing barriers are delicate matters that might potentially be detrimental for the knowledge management process

Lurking: a challenge or a fruitful strategy? A comparison between lurkers and active participants in an online corporate community of practice

For today’s organizations to obtain competitive advantages, online corporate Communities of Practice (CoPs) are indispensable. However, often the majority of its participants does not post content; they lurk. This paper explores four different perspectives on lurking; that is free-riding, legitimate peripheral participation, microlearning, and knowledge sharing barriers, and analyzes whether and why they are detrimental or fruitful for the knowledge management process. Furthermore, this study compares lurkers and active participants of an online corporate CoP in the light of the perspectives as presented above. First, the results of this study indicate that lurkers use the obtained knowledge on the job and therefore cannot simply be considered free-riders. Second, study results suggest that lurkers use lurking as a learning strategy, which confirms the microlearning hypothesis. Last, the results of this study indicate that knowledge sharing barriers are delicate matters that might potentially be detrimental for the knowledge management process

Spin/3 Magazine: Action Time Vision

Collaboration with London design group Spin, with contributing essays by Russ Bestley and Malcolm Garrett, on the subject of punk graphic design. Published as large format newspaper in plastic slipcase