Lurkers

Abstract

AbstractChapter 5 analyzes how social media can play a powerful role in educating people about their own privileges and prejudices. It focuses on the epistemic virtues and vices of lurkers, people who spend time in online epistemic communities without directly participating in them. Under the right circumstances, lurking can be an epistemically virtuous activity. However, lurking can also be an oppressive mode of knowledge production, one that treats marginalized subjects as objects of voyeuristic study rather than as epistemic agents. Often lurking should be avoided in lieu of active engagement or simply leaving epistemic spaces altogether. This chapter develops a virtue epistemology that helps us discern when to engage in a conversation, when to be quiet and lurk, and how to avoid hijacking online spaces for marginalized people.