Plurk - Real-Time Social Networking

[Jim Hutchinson]

When I first discovered Twitter I was amazed at how easy it was to communicate with others online. By adding them to my list of friends, I could see what they are up to at any given time, providing of course, that they typed something in.

I started seeing Follow me On Twitter in an increasing number of places, most often by well-known marketers. That is what attracted me to that communication medium.

The list of tweets (posts) was updated so frequently, that the main page looked like it changed every 5 seconds, but only if I manually refreshed the page. If I went about my business and did not refresh the page very often, chances of missing a great link or important update were very good. Following conversations is a big roadblock, since the time lines are not displayed in a friendly way.

Then someone on Twitter posted a link to Plurk.com. Always looking for better ways to do things, I naturally looked into it. What I found was a system that felt a little strange to me because the time line scrolls across the screen. I learned that the first day by accidentally moving the wheel on my mouse. My first thought was, "Where are you going?"

Looking deeper, I saw that all the conversations are kept together in a vertically scrolling box. The post times are next to each one when I hover my mouse over them and at the bottom of the screen. Sharing videos and photos is a breeze. Just link to either one and the system recognizes the file type, putting an icon on the link to it.

Click that link and you do not even leave the page to view it. A small window pops on screen to watch the video.

To see a list of all recent posts in text format, there is a browser plugin for cell phones that can also be used on computers. It works well in Mozilla Firefox (I have not tried the Internet Explorer version). A panel shows on the left of my screen that I can refresh any time for updates.

Keeping a tab open with the Plurk window is best though. Even the tab title changes to show how many new posts were made since last time I checked. The time line goes back 2 days so you rarely miss anything unless you want to.

Plurk has Karma system too. When you post, either new messages or replies to others, add friends, or update your profile, you are rewarded with Karma points. The more points you get, the more permissions you have to do other things, such as changing your display name, getting more emoticons, or changing the look of your personal page.

One really cool feature is if I leave a conversation box open, I can see new posts in real time as they happen. Building a community and networking is much easier than it is on Twitter.

With all that said, I am hooked on Plurk. Check it out and discover what it can do for you. My profile page is at http://www.plurk.com/user/jimhutchinson