It was just a little over a month ago when I posted my first Plurk, asking about the merits of yet another social networking/microblogging platform. Immediately, the conversation grew - connections were made… and a community was born. How can I NOT get hooked?
Since then, I’ve become a loyal Plurk user. And, I’ve slowly seen how this helped me in my online life.
So today, I share with you 5 Things I Like about Plurk -
1) It’s great for conversations and connectivity. Twitter was once the place for me to communicate and to connect. It still is, somehow. Especially with friends and contacts who aren’t on Plurk yet (there are many). However, I noticed recently that even though I have more friends/followers at Twitter, I still end up with more responses on Plurk whenever I post an update.
2) It’s fun. Seriously. Love the fact I can post photos & videos easily. Love the fun emoticons. I enjoy ‘unlocking’ features through higher karma points. I don’t take karma to heart, but it’s still like a cool online game, so you can’t completely ignore your ’score’, even if you want to.
3) Easy to follow. I love that it’s so much easier to follow conversations. On Twitter, when someone posts a statement, then another person responds, if you’re not following that other person, you won’t see the response. On Plurk, it’s all there. That’s why you end up getting to know ’strangers’ better. If you like how they communicate, you end up responding to - and following - them too.
4) Voices can be clearer, stronger. One of the things that some folks fault Plurk with is the thought of not having enough ‘big names’ or ‘big tech players’. But, that’s not necessarily all bad in my book. The good thing is that it gives more people an opportunity to be heard, and not get ‘drowned’ in the social timelines.
5) It’s good for traffic. I noticed a few days ago that Plurk has now climbed as one of my top referrers according to my stats. Strangely enough, even though currently I just have a fraction of the number of followers on Plurk (less than 200) compared to Twitter (650+), I seem to be getting more clicks on my links via Plurk than Twitter (or any other site that I share my links with). This baffles me a bit. But, I do have some theories on why this might be the case. In any case, I’m real happy about the positive impact of Plurk on my blog traffic-wise.
+ 3 Things I Don’t Like About Plurk
6) So. Very. Addictive. Not only does the karma points play with your psyche to get you to Plurk more, the whole set-up of having some kind of live worldwide IM chatroom can be way too irresistible. Definitely need a lot of willpower to shut down and not get sucked in too much. 
7) Some hiccups with the system. I’m not talking about ‘down times’ (a’la the “Twitter fail whale”). We haven’t really seen much of those. I’m talking about people’s Plurks showing up on one’s timeline even when you specify that you do not wish to follow their Plurk updates. Or, how strange it is that Fans cannot be easily turned in to Friends. And, why I need to get ‘confirmed’ by someone who already tried to add me as a friend. That sort of stuff. Hopefully, they’ll get those sorted out. And that one day, they’ll open the API to developers.
8 ) Limited ‘Unlocking Features’. I know, I know… I’m a sucker for more emoticons, word expressions, and other ways to customise Plurk displays and such. Right now, there’s only a ‘reward’ when you get to +25, then +50. After those, none. Zilch. Nada. Not even when you reach Plurk Nirvana. 
+2 Helpful Plurk Tools
9) Ping.fm - I find this especially useful for cross-posting some of my updates between Plurk, Twitter, and other networks that I have. It also enables me to post to Plurk via my mobile phone (email). Other people use HelloTxt, I believe.
10) Top Plurk Users - Just a fun little app that shares the top users of Plurk. You can even check out top users in particular locations! (And yes, I’m in the Australia list - eeps.)
What about you? What do you like/dislike about Plurk? Have you tried it yet? Why or why not? Do you have any favourite Plurk tools?
Oh, and yes, if you want to connect in Plurkville, you can find me in this corner of Plurk.
This is part of a Plurk Carnival, initiated by Marjorie Asturias. Read on for links to other Plurk-related blog entries. Oh, and if you like this post, you might want to send it some Digg love (or StumbleUpon love!). Thanks.
More Plurk Lovin’…
- Plurk Fever by Marjorie Asturias (marjorie)
- Standing Out From The Crowd With Plurk by Allan Cockerill (ozegold)
- A Look at Plurk by Hope Wilbanks (HopeWilbanks)
- 5 Reasons Why I Can’t Stop Plurking by ToniTiu (macaronigirl)
- Why Mama is Plurking by Meikah Delid (Meikah)
- Why Do You Plurk? by Sasha Manuel (angelisophia)
- Plurk by Melissa Williams (flamehair)
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6 Comments
Write a Comment»The whole downside to social networking is that everyone else wants you to be on their network. So I was on Bebo, then everyone decides FB is better. Which it totally is, bad example. Anyhoo, on top of that I get spammed from every idiot who signs up to an alternative site and lets it access their address book as part of the sign up process. So now I’ve got invites and ‘last chances’ coming left right and centre from 8 other social networking sites. I resisted twitter, because I didn’t know what it was - ignorance can be bliss, however I signed up, and I like it, the downfall being the timezome difference and that I ‘can’t’ (read: can but shouldn’t) access it from work. And now here we have Plurk. And I’m resisting again. If I’m going to subscribe to one of these things, there will only be one. Plus when people set plurk updates to go on Twitter, Twitter can’t handle it and you have to decipher the message, REALLY annoying. And I notice that the honeymoon period has worn off where Plurk was sooo much more reliable than Twitter, I’ve seen complaints now that Plurk is down here and there too, whereas Twitter has been great lately. Anyway, that’s my story, maybe I’ll give Plurk a go one day, but once I’ve tried it out I’ll be giving up on either that or Twitter. Two is too many.
Shai Coggins reply on July 28th, 2008:
It is easier to keep track of conversations and responses on Plurk. Real-time updates are so cool that it seems like you’re using a chat app!
Shai Coggins reply on July 28th, 2008:
I am finding I enjoy plurk more than twitter as well. Definitely easier to follow conversations instead of all that scrolling and hitting “earlier” to see what you missed.
I am a bit overwhelmed now with the two of them, but some of my best online buddies are only on Twitter, while I’m meeting some new buddies on Plurk. Is their a happy medium?
Shai Coggins reply on July 28th, 2008:
I haven’t touched Twitter in ages. Plurk suits me far more and even after the first flush of novelty wears off I’ll still be happier there I think. Facebook has the occasional app that I fall in love with (Wrestler is my current fave) but that enjoyments ebbs and flows.
Shai Coggins reply on July 29th, 2008:
I would really agree with you on all what you said on this post. Now that plurk has added the CSS capabilities on editing profiles I’m sure it will be more addictive than any other microblogging service (pownce has this feature but for pro users only).
Shai Coggins reply on July 29th, 2008:
Of all the microblogging sites existing on the web, Plurk is the best! I had first joined twitter and i wont say i don’t like it, but i prefer plurking to twittering!Twittering nowadays has become so formal whereas plurk acts as a social journal.It’s true that plurking is addicting but it’s fun!
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