Lurk Moar

Lurk Moar

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About

Lurk Moar is a phrase used primarily on imageboards and forums to tell other users they need to post less and study the community before posting again. The phrase is frequently used as a derogatory euphemism to inform users they are not wanted/welcomed, but may also be intended as legitimate advice for new users. Previously, the acronym RTFM was used to convey the same message.

Origin

The History of Lurking

The word "Lurker" is used to describe someone who reads a message board or forum, often regularly, but rarely posts or contributes in any way. It is believed to have originated in the mid 1980's on BBS systems of the time.[1]

According to a 2006 study by Catherine Ridings (Lehigh University), David Gefen (Drexel University), and Bay Arinze (Drexel University) entitled "Psychological Barriers: Lurker and Poster Motivation and Behavior in Online Communities"[2] people may "lurk" due to a lack of trust for members of the community; however, in many social communities such as Anonymous boards like 4Chan, the idea of trust is hardly a common value. To help users cope with controversial content such as trolling, 4chan advises users to "lurk" before posting. When one fails to meet this requirement, they would often find their remarks and opinions met with the command, "Lurk Moar, newfag."

Origin of "Lurk Moar"

It is unknown who first used the term "lurk moar."

"Lurk Moar" is rule number 33 of The Rules of The Internet, which were written to include "Rule 33" from the very first drafts in 2006 (shown below).


Rules of the internet. 1. Do not talk about b/ 2. Do NOT talk about b/ 3. We are ànonymous 4. Anonymous is legion 5. Anonymous never forgives 6· Anonymous canbe a horrible, senseless, uncaring monster 7. Anonymous is still able to deliver 8. There are no real rules about posting 9. There are no real rules about moderation either - enjoy your ban 10. If you enjoy any rival sites - DON' T 11. A11 your carefully picked arguments can easily be ignored 12. Anything you say can and will be used against you 13. Anything you say can be turned into something else fixed 14. Do not argue with trolls -it means that they win 15. The harder you try the harder you will fail 16. If you fail in epic proportions, it may just become a winning failure 17. Every win fails eventualljy 18. Everything that can be labeled can be hated 19. The more you hate it the stronger it gets 20. Nothing is to be taken seriously 21. Original content is original only for a few seconds before getting old 22. Copypasta is made to ruin every last bit of originality 23. Copypasta is made to ruin every last bit of originality 24. Every repost is always a repost of a repost 25. Relation to the original topic decreases with every single post 26. Any topic can be easily turned into something totally unrelated 27. Always question a person's sexual prefrences without any real reason 28. Always question a person' s gender - just in case it's really a man 29. In the internet all girls are men and all kids are undercover FBI agents 30. There are no girls on the internet 31. T--- or GTFO -the choice is yours 32. You must have pictures to prove your statements 33. Lurk moreit's never enough 34. There is p--- of it, no exceptions 35. If no p--- is found at the moment, it will be made 36. There will always be even more f----- up s--- than what you just saw 37. You can not cdivide by zero (just because the calculator says so) 38. No real limits of any kind apply here not even the sky 39. CAPSLOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL 40. EVEN WITH CRUISE CONTROL YOU STILL HAVE TO STEER 41. Desu isn't funny. Seriously guys. It's worse than Chuck Norris jokes 42. Nothing is Sacred 43. The more beautiful and pure a thing isthe more satisfying it is to corrupt it 44. Even one positive coment about Japanese things can make you a weeaboo 45. When one sees a lion, one must get into the car 46. There is always furry p--- of it 47. The pool is always closed.

"Moar" is lolspeak for "more" and is a portmanteau of the words "More" and "Roar,"[3] spelled that way to heighten the level of enthusiasm as opposed to "more." An increase in "Moar" Google queries is congruent with the peak of Caturday's popularity in the Spring of 2007.[4] This may explain the increase in searches for "lurk moar" at the end of 2006, which is congruent with the start of Caturday and thus hosted the frequent posting of lolcats and lolspeak.

Spread

On August 11th, 2007, zuffix posted a definition for "lurk moar" to Urban Dictionary,[5] garnering over 610 upvotes and becoming the top definition in 14 years (shown below).


lurk moar A popular variant spelling of lurk more. It is an expression used when someone demonstrates their ignorance of the customs and social expectations of an online community, or otherwise makes an idiot of themselves online. Its use indicates that the person so instructed should gain familiarity with the community before posting further. annoying_n0ob: LOL @ my genius! I am the greatest! Surely everyone loves me by now. everyone else: LURK MOAR by zuffix August 11, 2007

On October 1st, 2007, Flameviper posted a lurk moar image macro to DeviantArt[7] (shown below, left). On August 4th, 2009, ontological_shock posted a cat-themed lurk moar image macro to WordPress blog Cat Macros[8] (shown below, right).


LURKING you need to do moar of it FLAMEVIPER: You see, there's a difference between a lolcatanda cat macro. Adorable Orange Kitty suggestsyou LURK MOAR. ROELBOT

On August 8th, 2009, RushNerd posted an image macro using the phrase to headphone forum Head-Fi.[6] These posts represent early examples of the phrase's use online (shown below).


Let me show you how to lurk more. Lurking Moar Let me show you it

Various Examples


lourk More I ASKED WHERE MY KEYS WERE HE SAIDLURK MOAR" I ASKED WHERE MY KEYS WERE HE SAIDLURK MOAR" LURK MORE NOOB!!1 I didn't do anything! ; Head straight down LURK MOAR turn lefton catch the bus STFU then onto FAIL at GTFO andyouill be rightbackin NOOB-VILLE LURKING MOAR If you've never done it, you need to do moar of it. You need to do it to do moar of it. Which means, you have no idea how to do it in the first place, do you? The point is, if you've never done any of it, ever, people just seem to know

Search Interest

External References

[1] Wikipedia – Lurker

[2] Communications of the Association for Information Systems – Psychological Barriers: Lurker and Poster Motivation and Behavior in Online Communities

[3] Urban Dictionary – Moar

[4] Google Trends – Search Results for 'Moar' and 'Caturday'

[5] Urban Dictionary – lurk moar

[6] Head-Fi – RushNerd

[7] DeviantArt – Neighbourhood Watch

[8] WordPress – Adorable Orange Kitty

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