Well, this is a topic with my name on it, because until
very recently in this fandom, I was a lurker. I read Zoom's boards religiously but hovered on the edges for 18 months before making my first post. Probably for many of the reasons people have mentioned above: fear of not having anything scintillating to say (not that I do now either...), and it is
definitely scary to jump in, especially into an "established" community. A person's character in RL probably plays a factor as well: a "shy" person will undoubtedly take longer to summon up the nerve to post than an outgoing one.
I also tend to worry - probably overmuch - about the way my written words come across. I've been in fandoms where misunderstandings have arisen over the slightest (unintentional) misphrasing, so I tend to be a little paranoid about not wanting to offend anybody. And I already spend way too much time on the computer as it is - if I'm going to take 30 minutes to write each post (ok, a slight exaggeration), then I'll never have time for anything else...
Kathy
