This week I have decided since I enjoy traveling a lot, I have decided to join a traveling forum in Trip adviser. I have posted two comments so far and the responds have been great. Information provided by the enthusiast are interesting and helpful. I am intrigue by how many actually would ask questions and have “strangers” share their experience and provide helpful insights. My goal is to gather information on San Francisco and the replies were almost instantaneous. This is an amazing experience to know that people actually would willingly offer their expertise and I actually benefit from it. On the other hand, it is also a motivating for me to sharing my thoughts on some of the queries that I have prior experience as I try to contribute to the community. Based on the different learning trajectory I would think that inbound would best describe my current participation.
In terms, of being a lurking in a community I have chosen to a Triathlon community as I would want to learn how to plan my training and some tips on how to manage the different discipline. It is interesting to actually find that the being peripheral to the community I do get useful information but I find that without the interaction I do not fully benefit. Thus my motivation to check on the community becomes very limited.
joeang3211 
Hi Joel, I also find the reviews I get from sites like TripAdvisor to be very useful. It is great how the insight of another person can really help you either make the decision to visit somewhere or help you to know what to pack, etc. for a particular region or part of the world.
More and more we find that reviews of previous travelers and customers are helping others in making those decisions to travel more.
A triathlon community sounds like a fine choice!