Blogging confession number 5,365

I'm a lurker.  Not a creepy, real life, I'm-wanna-break-into-your-house kind of lurker, but a blog lurker.  I have tons of blogs I love to read, from design blogs to fashion blogs to the everyday journal type of blogs, but I only comment on a handful of them.  I don't have a reason for this other than the ridiculous notion that I feel sort of intrusive popping up in some strangers comments like, "Hey, you don't know me but I've been reading your blog for months now.  Just wanted to say hi!"  Although that's usually how it goes.  And there isn't a single blogger I know who would actually mind.

For the few blogs I do comment on, I'm fairly consistent and loyal about it.  These are relationships like any other, after all, and you should put some effort into them.  Aside from that, I generally just want to comment, either because I have something to say or because I now consider these bloggers friends and comments are the way we usually keep in touch (and you can always add me on Twitter!).

But this lurking thing is something I want to change (and at this point I'm thinking of renaming 2010, "The Year of Change").  Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I think I just feel like my blogging has moved passed the point where it's simply a journal I let others read.  This isn't completely about expanding my own readership, which is something I wrote about a few months ago, and I don't necessarily want to change the way I write or what I'm writing about in order to suit any would-be readers (because not only would that defeat the entire purpose of my blog, but I'm actually not sure it would make a difference).  But I think I'd like to put myself out there more.  Expanding the blogs I read and the bloggers I get to know seems to be as good a way as any to do that.

So if you have a blog and would like to expand your readership, please leave me a link!

All of this also makes me wonder if there are people lurking on my blog.  Are there?  Are you a lurker just like me?  If so, feel free to continue lurking to your hearts content, but I also just want to invite you to say hi now and then.  Like most people who blog, I love reading comments and I really like meeting new people, yourself included!