Is Plurk worth all the work?
Monday, June 9, 2008 at 09:12PM Like any niche online, the micro-blogging space is technically limitless. Any group of talented geeks can put together a place where friends can communicate frankly. Practically speaking, with so many sites interested in what you are doing every second, there are so many places one can post before the next moment passes.
Being one of those people who are social network obsessed, I had to check out Plurk.com.
The site can best be described as a place to express yourself in a time line format, and receive comments all classified chronologically. After you sign in, you can use qualifiers like loves, hates, likes, is, wishes, etc. to share how you feel. I do wish there was a "need" qualifier, as that seems to be a basic one that is left out. Plus, if you want to go freestyle and have your own qualifier, you can do that too. After you have selected the word, you can continue with a sentence or link, making it somewhat like Pownce [where you can also share a link and get comments].
Another item that is like Pownce is the ability to make sets of friends, or "cliques." This can make it easier to send a note to the few rather than the many. In terms of UI, the site has a colorful look with some different templates, but I would like to see more.
Plurk does have a lot in common with Twitter and Pownce. The thing that sets it apart may be the one that is hardest to get used to: the time line. With hundreds of friends, it's almost over stimulation with the amount of information coming in every minute. Plurk did add an "add, but don't follow" option a few days after it was launched, but it still can be hard to comprehend all that is occuring. I liken this to reading Arabic to most other languages; it's a different direction [right to left]. Twitter, Pownce, and even the personalized Facebook homepage deliver linear content while Plurk gives it to us horizontally.
There is also a karma point system that I honestly don't get the point of. It seems that with more karma points you can have a different ugly doll like creature on your time line, and unlock more emoticons. Not so enticing as a feature, unless you are weirdly into that type of thing [a dancing banana emoticon is good enough for me!]
Test it out for yourselves and let me know what you think of it. Plurk is a fun looking site with a good concept, but I am unsure of who it will appeal to or if it can compete with the micro-blog heavy weights. Scoble first commented that Plurk may be a good place to go when Twitter was down, but later stated that he "hates plurk." I definitely don't hate it and will continue to Plurk on. However, It won't be the first thing I log onto anytime soon and will have to stand in line behind the big boys that came before it.
Reader Comments (11)
It was amazing for awhile, now its beginning to become a drag. Too much to keep up with, and clearly harder to work with a time line rather than a linear messaging system like Twitter or Pownce.
Yeah it is an ok site and I still am going to use it but I still love Twitter.
For me, Plurk = meh. I signed up for it and gave it a try, but nothing about Plurk blew me away.
There's always room for competition, but now that Twitter weathered the WWDC storm, I think they'll remain the defacto web app of its kind. Between Twitter and Pownce, I don't really feel I need another social networking site to be a part of.
I went to Plurk after i read a blog on it. Somehow i agree with the comments i've read before about the timeline feature. It really takes time to get used to it. And after quite some time i really prefer to stick to twitter, but as i said before: Plurk is one thing iJustine should add to her things to do when twitter is down. I will still give it a chance to see how it evolves, but for now ill just keep up with twitter and check my plurk account less often.
I like Plurk but it's a frantic experience. I think it's fun when you're not really doing anything and just want to waste some time. LOL! Or if you know your friends are going to be online, it's a good way to just chat in a group.
The karma thing keeps drawing me in though. I want more karma. But I don't know why. :)
I'd have to agree... I just don't see the extra functionality [or lack thereof] as an incentive to jump ships from any of the other hundreds of micro-blogging, link-dropping sites I'm already into. But alas, I have indeed fallen victim to SocialThing already... when will it end?!
For me, the time line and modifiers aren't enough of a reason to switch. Although, once they have a desktop app, I might be a bit more inclined to play with it.
I actually just wrote a blog about Plurk, too. It seems to be very much in vogue right now, but I don't think that will last terribly wrong. The timeline is too difficult to really follow and it relies so much on flashy colors and gimmicks, I think that power users will give up on it. I believe Plurk will retain its own core group of users who will continue on with the service once it drops out of vogue, but I don't think it is sounding a dirge for Twitter.
Neha, I think plurk is just a bit too influenced by twitter. The home page tells me nothing about the website. And the site itself doesn't look cute.. thumbs down !
I fucking love Plurk.
You know what I dont get about all this? Why not just post in all the micro-blogging sites? I use Ping.fm to post through my MSN, and it goes to my Twitter/
Jaiku/ Pownce/ tumblr/ Plurk/ FB/ MySpace at once
why the hate?!