Diffidence and Lurking

Thanks to Gaping Void for summing up the root of my personal diffidence (at least for today).

I've been doing more lurking today, particularly on Twitter and the Library Society of the World all by way of Meebo.

Much conversation in all places librarian about Michael Gorman's latest (I have joined those who choose not to link). It is not so much that specific content of the conversations that pulls me in to lurk, but that there are intelligent people saying thoughtful things. In listening to them, I allow my own thoughts to stir in ways that I have avoided for many years. Thinking and analyzing the world around me for its own sake--not to perform my job or not carry on the mundane details of my personal life--but to enjoy the exercise of my own intellect in places that thoughtful people find worthy of intelligent conversation. Mind, I do not hold that intelligent conversation cannot be silly or must have about it the air of high seriousness. Most conversations that I find to be intelligent are so, in part, because the parties do not take themselves too seriously.

I guess that all of this is a way to explain my lurking. I don't think that it is voyeurism, or any disdain for participating in the conversations to which I am drawn, or even a great concern that everyone will get to laugh at me when I finally find my own way to jump into the conversation. For now it is just that I feel best adding my voice to the conversation in the slow and halting format of a diffident blogger.

So if you stumble upon SMKVT in your Meebo room or on Twitter I hope you will find your way here to see the few words that I have to offer.

How diffident can I be....

How diffident can I be if I just put a twitter badge on my blog.

It does make some sense if you consider that I don't tweet frequently, but I do follow any number of "friends" on twitter.com
I am especially fond of twitter.com\TwitterLit and the brand new twitter.com\Twitterprose

With a variety of reasons for keeping what I am doing lately mostly to myself, I nonetheless keep myself connected by following the conversation and updates of others. Many of these are folks who have little idea who I am, just an occasional comment on a blog or a sign on in a meebo room (usually as some form of the name smkvt)with no chat from me.

Maybe this lurking seems a bit creepy or even somewhat sad, but for me, for now, the tweets and the chat are good company when I may not be much good company to myself or others.