Everyone is talking about Plurk, the new microblogging platform that has all kinds of special features that Twitter does not have. Yesterday, Brian, asked if I had checked out Plurk. Since my answer was “no” he went ahead and sent me an invite; he wanted to know what I thought of it. At first I was a bit overwhelmed and did not see the attraction. It was not love at first site, as it was so very different from Twitter. I really did not do much with it at first other than get registered and set up my account. As the day went on, the friend requests started coming in and I was forced to spend some time on Plurk.
I accepted a few friendships, read a few updates and noticed that some friends from Twitter looked to be having a good time “plurking” so I started to chime in. Needless to say, 3 hours later, I finally said goodnight to all of my new friends and was determined to write about Plurk today!
The jury is out, when it comes to the question of whether or not Plurk is unique or just another Twitter clone. But the buzz, speaks for itself………
“Yesterday I spent an absurd amount of time exploring a new social media site called Plurk. The buzz started a couple nights ago when Leo Laporte tweeted out that sites like Plurk show that there is a lot of opportunity for innovation in the microblogging space. The end result was that thousands of users flocked to the site. Robert Scoble then popped up in my FriendFeed and I suddenly knew that there would be a bunch of people checking it out.”
I am totally hooked. Plurk is by far, more fun, more colorful and more interactive than Twitter and since Twitter has had so many technical issues lately, I’m really starting to think that Plurk might just be my new addiction. There is a great tutorial that I found, that does a great job explaining how to get the most out of Plurk. I sincerely suggest you give Plurk a try and by all means, let me know what you think of it!
Thanks for the link love! I definitely think Plurk is insanely addictive and much more colorful. I just wonder if it will scale.
wow! Nice write up! The best part of the plurk is to have one to many conversion. It allows me to post a question and got answers from the people I don’t even know. Now they became my friends.
Here is my plurk.
http://www.plurk.com/user/terencechang
I thought plurk was kind of weird at first too but the more I use it the more I am enjoying myself! The learning curve isn’t that bad but I *have* witnessed some very social media savvy people having a hard time learning it. I really hope it catches on
i love it but i stand by my earlier noise that it’s not mobile enough. supposedly they’re working on that…
I’m feeling the love here, getting mentioned like that… blush…
Yes, Plurk is the newest and shiniest toy. It’s fun, it’s looser, it’s cute… but will it last? I’m really not sure.
I was avoiding Plurk before, but all the talk chased me in- along with an invite from my friend Sean Howard. Over the past two days, I’ve spent far more time on Plurk than Twitter. But I have the luxury of being couch-bound as I recover from injuries. If I were in the office, there is NO WAY I’d be able to spend so much time on Plurk- especially while trying to keep up with Twitter at the same time.
Plurk does seems to be more “fun” than Twitter at the moment, but I wonder how much of that is due t the smaller community lending a more intimate feel to things. You know, like how when you have a party, all the really cool conversations seem to drift off into the kitchen to get away from all the other distractions. The bigger conversation is great too, but the little side conversations are more often the ones we remember longest.
I’ll keep Plurking until I have reason to stop- just like with Twitter. For now though, I’m hopping between both… but spending the bulk of my time on Plurk (but don’t tell anybody).
He, this is really funny, cause I was thinking exactly the same thing when I first tried out plurk too. I mean, I could tell it was pretty good, but I wasn’t impressed at all. Because everybody was doing it and I got pressured by all my friends to give it a shot, I started using a bit more extensively and then, just like you, I got completely hooked! Haha, I think I experienced the same issue with Twitter too, when I first started out with it. Lesson: no matter how bad something may look, if you don’t give it a try you’ll never know. You can go ahead and add me bellow:
http://www.plurk.com/user/TibiPuiu
Oh we’re having fun now – oui?
Fun new toy, Plurk is. Future reveals all in time, yes?
I definitely agree that Plurk is not love at first site. However, neither was Twitter (for me). In fact, I registered for Jaiku months before I got on Twitter.
I like Plurk though. I’m enjoying the experience.
I’ve been slow to try out Plurk too. Based on your experience… I guess I’ll have to go get started.
I’m with social and thought I was a lone soldier…I’ll have to give it a go now.
I gave Plurk a try today and I’m liking it more than I ever did Twitter. Twitter never did it for me, but then all of a sudden it seemed like everyone was using Twitter. I only finally starting using Twitter a few weeks ago.
I’m hoping many Twitter users move to Plurk, so I can leave behind my Twitter account.
I’m not a fan of the site at all to be honest, then again I wasn’t a fan of twitter that long ago.
I really hope everyone doesn’t jump ship and start to flock there, I think we should all give twitter a chance for being innovative in this space, who is to say that Plurk won’t have the same issues as it grows.
I definitely hated Plurk at first glance. Once I looked deeper, all of a sudden hours had flew past.
I agree with all of you. At first, Plurk is so different from the microblogging we are all used to that one might think, “why spend more time here?” but after you get going….look out! The hours fly by and the family gets neglected and affair begins.
I tried Plurk and the interface isn’t intuitive. I’ll give your tour a try.
I have to admit also that I also like Plurk..it’s like a hybrid between Twitter and Jaiku..^^ I love the features and everything!
I’m a little slow… I was just about to try Twitter out (yes, I haven’t tried it yet!), now Plurk comes along.
One of the features I’ve read about Plurk that sounds great is the ability to group your followers – so I could Plurk to my work colleagues only, etc. That’s one of the things holding me back from using Twitter – that all my friends would be lumped together.
I’ll have to give it a try…
I love Plurk. it’s so much better than twitter. I haven’t put together any cliques yet, but I need to. It’s so peaceful compared to my Twitter.
My twitter friends use tons of profanity and are always involved in some type of e-drama. Then there’s Plurk. It’s quiet and peaceful and happy. You can’t beat that.
I appreciate this review of Plurk. I’ve read a lot about it, but I’m new to Twitter and just getting my feet wet there. I will definitely continue to look at Plurk as a possibility.
By the way, it was fun reading your comment on my interview with JJ Cooper – we do have some things in common, huh??
Hmmm, I’m just so sick of the “hype” that I refuse to join. Great review though!
I don’t know what I think about it yet. A lot of people are on there doing nothing except talking about Plurking, which gets boring. Right now, I like Twitter better, although I do like Plurk’s interface.
I’m on Plurk, but admittedly haven’t spent much time there. I’ll have to take a look through the tutorial and see if I can get as hooked on it as I am on Twitter & Entrecard lol.
Thanks!
Thanks for the post. I was hesitant to accept a beta invite just because of the headless animal. I look for technology for educators and use Twitter as a resource of ideas from my network. I now LOVE Plurk because I can follow my threads of conversation. Thanks for the links especially the one about “getting the most out of Plurk”
mcarls
Thanks for the link although, like you found, it is hard to get used to the ways of new micro blogging and social networking sites. Oh well, I will check it out and see how it works out for me. Change is always good