Silent majority

I like this blog’s minty fresh breath.

I check in pretty much daily. I’m an American who likes the political commentary, especially that relating to the wider world (gotta learn me somehow). The music and sports threads are a lot of fun too (does Babelfish have a Cricket to American translator?). The inside-the-ivory-tower posts don’t fire me up so much, except to make me glad that I rejected the academic route early on! Not to disparage y’all, but rather I’d be pretty ill-suited to it.

Err, I meant to say that I hope you don’t get only five comments.

Hey there CTers! Love the blog, subscribe to the feed! Mostly I like the variety of intelligent perspectives on a wide range of subjects, from Science Fiction to Academic Politics. Don’t usually have time to comment, so I remain a lurker. Thanks for finding the time to write though.

I’ve been “just watching” for quite a while, made a post or two only very recently.

While the debate is usually pretty well thought-out and interesting, what fascinates me most about this particular site is how quickly certain subjects devolve into personal attacks and polarized perspectives (especially those subjects with a gender-related component). I think that says something about the current state of academic sociology (which I assume is where most of the posters come from), but I’m not quite sure what. I’d be interested to hear the contributors’ perspectives on that.

I came at you originally through the suggestion of my aggregator (Bloglines), and enjoy the site for the depth of the commentary that I find interesting, both in subject matter and in perspective. Don’t comment at all, seems there are already enough people doing that.

I lurk on rather too many blogs, so am destined to remain mostly a lurker who greatly envies the apparent ability of others to both read and write extensively. CT’s great strength seems to me its variety of perspectives and willingness to talk on many subjects, including those of interest to antipodeans caught up in cold North Lands where Babel fish are required for conversations about rugby and cricket.

well let’s see here…

I’m a student at a junior college in vancouver canada studying politics and economics, and CT seems to have much more interesting analysis and debate than any of my classes.

I like that the majority of the comments generally add to the entry, rather than being superfluous or shallow sectarian bickering.

I just started lurking a couple of weeks ago, found you guys through links from various other blogs. I love the wide variety of topics discussed here – you do such a great job. I usually don’t have a lot of time to comment, but if something really moves me, I will.

I’m an RSS lurker. And I skim this site several times a day. I have never commented before. And I tend to lean the same direction as your Crooked Timber does.

Me: History grad student, UK.
I visit often, but comment rarely.
(but do sometimes refer & link to CT posts on my site!)

Hi,

I confess, I´m a lurker.

(not quite, since I think I have made a comment here once)

i’m a lurker, and i enjoy the broad spectrum of interesting posts, and especially the lively and more-often-on-topic-than-other-blogs comments.

Silicon valley engineer. Started reading Kos, Drum, and Atrios summer before the election. Election made me sad, and I stopped
reading anything political because it just made me sadder. Six months later, came back. I’ve been slowly growing the set of poli-blogs in my “open in tabs” bookmark. Followed enough chains of links ending up here that I added you about a month ago.
Never posted anything other than this here.

“Lurker Day” is some kind of scam, isn’t it? You can’t make me comment!

That Chris Clarke…doesn’t he know that it’s who shouts the loudest, not who shouts first, that establishes priority in academe?

I haven’t commented on CT in a while (I guess that makes me a lurker now), but it’s only because I take it for granted.

Hi. I pop in now and then and usually find something of some interest. Eventually I’m going to read Iron Council then peruse the China Mieville seminar.

OK, you got me. I’ve never commented, mainly because by the time I’ve read through the 20 or so other comments, the topic has been thoroughly hashed out and I have nothing intelligent to add. I appreciate the breadth of scope as well as the intelligently thought-out comments. CT is part of my daily routine.

It’s like Mike D spoke on my behalf.

That’s an example of reasons why I don’t comment.

Reads CT daily. Swedish. Like the mix here. Consume political, cultural and tech blogs daily. Culturally conditioned towards the liberal blogosphere but find right wing blogs anthropologically interesting. The day job includes university teaching and researching organizations. Prefer lurking, the day job includes enough writing. Oh, and I’m not the Dan K that posts frequently at TPMcafe (likes his stuff though)

Your blog is great, and I check it every day. Sound analysis, bit of a tin ear politically when it comes to American voters but that’s neither surprising nor uncommendable. I rarely comment because just reading the blog and occasionally the comments already takes too much time without coming up with something to add.

I avoid coming to this site for months in spite of many of my regular reads linking here almost everyday. I have been a regular lurker here for the past 3 months or so, and I dig a lot of the issues raised here.

Keep up the good work.

I read it for the same reason Laura does (but didn’t have the chutzpah to admit here in a public forum): that fascist Holbo demands all Valve contributors set our default homepage to rotate between Crooked Timber and John and Belle. So I frequently scan the titles of the latest entries to see if there’re any I could later be quizzed on, then leave.

Actually, my contemporary political theory simply isn’t up to snuff. Ask me about turn-of-the-century American politics and how the pernicious myth of “social Darwinism” influences the way we think about it (not to mention “its” supposed instantiations since), and I’d be the best blog commenter in whole darn world!

Lurking classics grad student in Pton (where all grad students are sketchy lurkers regardless)… enough writing on dissertation, so no comments. Love the blog, nice blend of non- and non-non-academia links and thoughts…

Read daily and enjoy most of the posts. Can do without the once in while esoterica such as book “reviews” or inter-blog drive by shooting. The quality of the post is typically high same about the writing quality. It does help in enriching my day.

Comments are a different story all together. Do you really must practice the first amendment?. Or, could there be a resento-meter where aggrieved readers can shoot at repeat, and hellish, offenders?

I am a computer scientist at GWU.

I found Crooked Timber by links on lots of other sites. I think Uncertain Principles was one that led me here. I like the variety of topics discussed, and the general sense of academic activity in the air. I’m a refugee from academia (philosophy), which has something to do with that, I suppose. CT has also been useful to me as a recommender of other sites–I believe I first found Making Light via Kieran’s post on the Cryptonomicon–and for recommending Kelly Link’s work.