How long did you lurk for?

I've been a member here since 2007 and only recently started posting again after a couple year hiatus. I go through phases. I find it hard work to keep up. I'll be active for a bit and then real life will come back and there won't be much time. And honestly, after a couple months of staying on top of things this site starts to repeat itself pretty heavily as new blood comes in and topics just recycle, so it's best to take breaks anyway.

 

My personal experience was that I "lurked" by checking out the threads without an account for years. I finally created an account in January 2011 at the urging of a BA friend who wanted to get me into trading. Fast forward a few months after my account was created and all of a sudden there were new rules about posting on the ISO:FT forums requiring that you had been on BA a certain amount of time.

I found this ridiculous because of the very fact that you could lurk without an account. If the idea was to make sure no one was attempting to trade without learning the "value" of specific beers by watching the ISO:FT forums, then they should have made you create an account before you could possibly lurk and learn all that necessary info.

This is also why I find it ridiculous when someone calls someone out as not knowing anything because they just joined in 2012 or whenever. Just because you just created an account does not mean you have not done your homework, and vice versa is true as well of course.

 

Pretty much no time. Years of writing a review column have left me with this overindulgent feeling that people actually give a shit what I have to say. I know it's wrong but at the same time I figure someone would have taken away my keyboard if they were just that sick of it by now.

 

I have come back around and started posting on threads a little more frequently as of late. Not quite sure how long I "lurked" between then and now so I did not take the poll.
I do not always write a formal review either. I get more caught up in enjoying the beer at the time instead of trying to put down on paper or storing in my limited memory my thoughts for others.

 

I started my account here almost 2 years ago, but only recently really became active. I felt like I just didn't know enough or have enough experience with tasting beer to contribute anything worthwhile, so I lurked and learned. Now that I've accepted my addiction passion for beer, and since my homebrewing and research have taught me quite a bit, I feel like I might actually bring something worthwhile to the table. Or maybe that's just my imagination...

 

I assume you consider "lurking" as in lurking the forums specifically?

I've been registered since 2009, but I never even bothered with the forums until maybe a month or so ago. I started posting as soon as I started browsing the threads.

 

I lurked the site from 06-07ish, but I wasn't really lurking the forums, just everything else on the site. I joined in 2008 and ended up losing my account because I think I wrote a review for Stone IPA that was soo bad/noobish the Bros probably thought I was a troll. I remember typing in my name and password one day and it saying it was incorrect, lol. So I had to re-register, but was able to keep the same handle. Weird story, I know..

 

I'm not sure the idea behind not posting on ISO:FT before you register is so that you can learn the value of specific beer. I'm making some assumptions here, so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it has to do with you contributing something of value to the "community" (of BA) before you just start taking advantage of what it offers. For me, before I trade with someone, I like to check out their postings, see if we're on the same page about certain things, etc., but mostly to make sure they're not an a**hole. I think it's a pretty great requirement.

As for your second point, no, people shouldn't be d-bags about when you joined the site. D-bags serve their purpose, though--you learn pretty quickly who you don't want to trade/engage with.

 

I joined and then didn't post anything for a couple of years. I felt like I didn't have the experience with beer and didn't have anything that humorous, witty, or significant to post. There are some people who post some great material and others who seriously crack me up on a regular basis. I feel like I don't have the sophisticated palate required to do great beer reviews, but I really should post more about the beer stores and brewpubs I encounter in my travels. You don't need a great palate for those reviews, just the ability to observe and note details.

 

From what I remember, I was pretty active from the start.

 

A year or so

 

I am new to this forum, but I know how to lurk and do my research for lingo and what not. Also, I am not new to forums in general. I had always checked BA and RB for ratings, but I had never looked at the forum. I made an account simply for making reviews, but I quite like the forums here.

 

Not long. I would occasionally google a beer for reviews, and usually ended up reading BA reviews. But I wouldn't really say I was "lurking" the site, and I never read the forums. As soon as I started reading the forums, I made an account and have been reasonably active since. I have a lot of things to say, lol. The first thread that I felt I needed to share my opinion on, I went ahead and made my account.

 

I was a participant from the get-go: it has been 8 years.

 

I was lurking for a few years leading up to my 21st birthday, which is my signup date for legalities. Been a member since Nov. 4th, 2008. Lurking since about 2005 when I was working my first job in the business.

 

First used the site in 2007 (maybe late 2006), eventually signed up for an account so I could use the site search function in early 2008 (was previously just using google to search beeradvocate basically). Never posted on the forums with that account and eventually forgot the login info. Made a new account in 2010 to post on the forums, etc.

 

A year or two before opening account and then two years before actually posting.

 

It only took a few days to post. But it took me a few years to start posting reviews.

 

I created my account in May '11 but just to research beers and have a Wants list. I didn't even read the forums. Then, in September '11 I reluctantly started reviewing beers because the beer bar job I got hired for at the time encouraged it (the job ended up being shit and falling through anyway). I say "reluctantly" because I was afraid that, if I started reviewing beers, my craft addiction would get worse. Turned out to be a legitimate fear because I got hired at a Total Wine and started beer trading shortly after and went on a months-long beer-buying spree that nearly made me go broke. Still, I don't regret a single purchase because it's made me the advocate I am today plus it taught me lessons in spending wisely. This is a pricey hobby but I love it.