Just Here for the Comments - by Gina Sipley

Book Synopsis

We all sometimes 'lurk' in online spaces without posting or engaging, just reading the posts and comments. But neither reading nor lurking are ever passive acts. In fact, readers of social media are making decisions and taking grassroots actions on multiple dimensions.

Unpacking this understudied phenomenon, this book challenges the conventional perspective of what counts as participatory online culture. Presenting lurking as a communication and literacy practice that resists dominant power structures, it offers an innovative approach to digital qualitative methods.

Unique and original in its subject, this is a call for internet researchers to broaden their methods to include lurkers' participation and presence.

Review Quotes

"Why do we lurk? What difference does lurking make to digital life? Just Here for the Comments is a delightful exploration of the all-too-familiar, yet all-too-neglected phenomenon of lurking. We pay attention to the loudest voices on social media. Gina Sipley makes a powerful case for paying attention to those who hide in the shadows. Stunningly original and beautifully written, Just Here for the Comments is an exciting contribution to the burgeoning field of social media studies." Jason Hannan, University of Winnipeg

"What does it mean to be a lurker? These figures have been oddly neglected, in spite of how central their practice is to online interaction. Gina Sipley's pathbreaking book turns a spotlight onto lurking as literary practice, in a richly insightful examination of this strangely unexamined phenomena." Mark Carrigan, University of Manchester

"This highly readable and engaging book will be of interest to scholars working in a number of areas, including digital rhetoric, media studies and K-12 and higher education." A. M. Laflen, California State University, Sacramento - Choice Reviews

About the Author

Gina Sipley is Associate Professor of English at SUNY Nassau Community College. Sipley is a first-generation college graduate.