Clearly we need a new category for semi-lurkers (periodic lurkers? Situational lurkers?) because your experience seems to be fairly common.
I just wanted to comment on this: There are people who can post replies that are well-thought-out, intelligent, and on-topic, and then there are people like me who ramble on for eons about stuff nobody else cares about. In my experience, the people who post well-thought-out, intelligent commentary ALSO post a lot of rambling stuff nobody cares about (or at least, that *I* don't care about). Nobody is all one or all the other. I know that's important for me to remember, since I'm always fighting my own inner censor. And for the record, this comment didn't ramble at all; it was quite pertinent and to-the-point.
Since you say you're trying to move beyond lurking, I'd encourage you to friend some folks you read all the time. They may or may not friend you back, but I wouldn't worry so much about them wondering about who this random stranger is. (It's instructive to enter the name of a BNF on marnanel's joule site; in a given week they may have anywhere between 10 and 40 people friend and defriend them.) People with smaller flists will probably stop by and see who you are, and may friend you back, so you will get to know them, and they won't be random strangers anymore.
no subject
I just wanted to comment on this: There are people who can post replies that are well-thought-out, intelligent, and on-topic, and then there are people like me who ramble on for eons about stuff nobody else cares about. In my experience, the people who post well-thought-out, intelligent commentary ALSO post a lot of rambling stuff nobody cares about (or at least, that *I* don't care about). Nobody is all one or all the other. I know that's important for me to remember, since I'm always fighting my own inner censor. And for the record, this comment didn't ramble at all; it was quite pertinent and to-the-point.
Since you say you're trying to move beyond lurking, I'd encourage you to friend some folks you read all the time. They may or may not friend you back, but I wouldn't worry so much about them wondering about who this random stranger is. (It's instructive to enter the name of a BNF on marnanel's joule site; in a given week they may have anywhere between 10 and 40 people friend and defriend them.) People with smaller flists will probably stop by and see who you are, and may friend you back, so you will get to know them, and they won't be random strangers anymore.