Category: Technology Author : Duncan Riley Posted: July 12, 2008
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Plurk Update: the quiet achiever

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Plurk is continuing to grow, even at a time many first adopters have written it off. Regular Plurk users are noticing that the mix on Plurk is very much different to what you see on services such as Twitter. Darren Rowse noted during the week that “one of the things that I love about plurk is that the top user is using it to talk about knitting - no web 2.0 cool crowd but real people.” While I don’t believe that first adopters aren’t real people, the quote does sum up the mix on Plurk really well: the Plurk crowd is far more mainstream then the mix you see on other services.

Here’s some of the latest Plurk related tools and news since our last big Plurk update late June.

Plurkair still going strong

I typed Plurkair into Google the other day and it returned over 9,000 results, which is completely insane. Despite the unofficial Plurk API launching, I haven’t seen an API based replacement yet. If you’re finding the Plurk time line a barrier to entry, and would prefer a Twitter style interface, head on over to the Plurkair post here, and download it. A new version is being worked on.

SocialThing Supports Plurk

FriendFeed style service SocialThing has added support for Plurk, while FriendFeed itself is dragging the chain. SocialThing is embracing a lot of two way interaction at the moment so it’s worth a look, and I need to revisit it shortly myself.

Plurk Updater for WordPress

You can now update your Plurk account with your latest posts from WordPress with this WordPress plugin. My suggestion, as with the Twitter plugin, is that if you are writing a lot of posts, that you think twice about spamming people with links as it’s an quick path to losing followers.

State of the Web

State of the Web created the image above, that sums up how many Plurk users are feeling about the Twitter/ Plurk split at the moment. More here.

Plurk Widgets

Get your own Plurk Karma widgets or follower widgets here and here. The one thing that annoys me with Plurk is Karma, mostly because I don’t have a lot. I gave out the direct link to my profile when I first started writing about Plurk, and despite having introduced a pile of people to the service, I’m showing none introduced and therefore have a lower karma score than if I’d handed out the special link.

Plurk Greasemonkey Scripts

The full list here, but some highlights: Plurk Translator, Plurk Time Machine, Plurk Rich Edit and more.

Positive Press

Two posts of note: InsideCRM says “Plurk: A Welcoming Microblogging Community” and Smart Boy: “Why Plurk Rules The Micro-Blogging Universe.” Sucomments also has a solid three part series on using Plurk that starts here.

Plurk by the numbers

Things are looking good, particularly with Compete

You can also sign up, or follow me on Plurk by clicking here.



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  • July 12, 2008 at 7:46 pm l0ckergn0me
    I *STILL* don't get it.
  • July 12, 2008 at 7:50 pm Candace Holly
    "the Plurk crowd is far more mainstream then the mix you see on other services." I think that's what people are missing. Plurk's whole look and feel has a very MySpace/LiveJournal look to it. Something that doesn't appeal to myself and, probably a lot of others on the "tech space" (or whatever you want to call it). Plurk is more or less for people who might not quite understand why the iPhone is such a big deal or, why Mac vs PC is a debate that will never end. They have a place where they can come to after school or work and talk to their friends. Of course there's always the off chance they'll find one of our “web celebs” on Plurk and suddenly find out that it's cooler to be a dork. :)
  • July 12, 2008 at 8:01 pm Rom Feria
    Plurk? yurk!
  • July 12, 2008 at 8:11 pm Lucretia Pruitt
    When people on LiveJournal took to Plurk like fish to water - I got where the trend was going.
  • July 12, 2008 at 8:15 pm Cyndy
    I think I plurked a little in my mouth.
  • July 12, 2008 at 8:19 pm Justin Yost
    I don't understand the point of plurk either
  • July 12, 2008 at 8:28 pm Brian Daniel Eisenberg
    plurko.
  • July 12, 2008 at 8:54 pm Jay Tannenbaum
    Turn your head 90 degrees.
  • July 12, 2008 at 9:24 pm Duncan Riley
    Every comment here proves the exact line that Plurk is a mainstream service :-) I'm not seeing tech people on there, all my non-techie friends love it.
  • July 12, 2008 at 9:28 pm Shey
    Oh the irony
  • July 12, 2008 at 9:31 pm Francine Hardaway
    Too cute for me. Simplify
  • July 12, 2008 at 9:34 pm directeur
    @duncanriley: I have an account. I used it once to say that I won't use it. I don't like things that are unusable. I don't like the "karma" notion. I don't like many things, including the fact that I'm loosing my hair everyday more :(
  • July 12, 2008 at 9:51 pm Robyn Miller
    I finally succumbed to peer pressure and signed up. Whoo hoo! More time suck!
  • July 12, 2008 at 9:54 pm Paul Short
    Ok, I've been thinking a lot about sites like plurk, myspace and facebook, all of which I myself find really freaking annoying to use and cumbersome as hell. Yet the mainstream people or people I'd look at as novice or noob internet users love that sort of thing. Seems the more complicated *I* think it is, the more that other demographic loves it. They seem to get off on it.
  • July 12, 2008 at 9:58 pm Duncan Riley
    directeur, try the mobile version or via Plurkair, I'm more comfortable with a Twitter style layout. What I'd say to everyone though: just because you don't like it doesn't mean others don't...this is never going to be a first adopter/ geek service...nor does it have to be
  • July 12, 2008 at 10:00 pm Candace Holly
    I tried Plurk. Heard about it on TWiT and thought I'd give it a shot. That was the first and last time I will use it. It's definitely for a younger crowd. My Sixteen year old cousin thinks it's great.
  • July 12, 2008 at 10:01 pm adolfo foronda
    meh
  • July 12, 2008 at 10:02 pm pb30
    I'm excited for Plurker (http://is.gd/S5y). I'd like a more Twitter-like interface, and the mobile version is too primitive
  • July 12, 2008 at 10:12 pm Scott Jarkoff
    I think I'm riding the same boat Paul is on. The more complicated the service appears for the "techie" crowd the more mainstream it turns out to be. Weirdness!
  • July 13, 2008 at 4:54 am Margit Hinke
    @Candance Holly sorry Candance, just because PLURK is more emotional and creative than other services doesnt mean the Plurk crowd know nothing why iPhone is such a big thing, or why MAC vs PC is such a debate that will never end. To me your words sound like having prejudice against creative playfull stuff and their users. Sure the Plurk interface needs some corrections... like a better timeline, ect. MY resume is: Plurk is nice and gives you a chance being creative every time you log in. I prefere twitter.
  • July 13, 2008 at 6:06 am mike "glemak" dunn
    tried it - still have an acct and folks still follow me but i'm a non-active user - figured i'm not in the target demo is all - i can see how it will appeal to some especially non-twitter & friendfeed inclined folk

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