Lurker Elegy

Some could argue those who contribute online may be a little unhinged. If not unhinged, then at least opportunistic, manipulative — understanding this is a psychopathic battlefield after all. A war of attrition for your mind.

But of all who post online, perhaps mildly smug about their position or amount of influence, so one must be reminded. If you think that whatever flavor of crazy you find yourself scoffing at on whatever front page you’re addicted to surely is the depth of humanity’s darkness, so you’re invited to peel back the curtain a bit more.

That is, if, for every unhinged online poster there are hundreds of shadowy clickers, so through sheer numbers alone there are demons between. A core principle of any war is the fog: advancing under asymmetry of information.

The demons let the discourse play out.