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Plurk in a Twitter World & Why I Prefer Plurk

I’m a big fan of Plurk, a micro blogging platform, that is often compared to Twitter.  It has basically taken me away from Twitter by fixing some of my big Twitter concerns.  The more I use Plurk, the more I realize how many limitations and issues Twitter currently has.

Plurk Screen ShotHere are a few reasons why I like Plurk better than Twitter:

  1. Inline Replies – Keeping conversations together.  This really makes it feel like a community of users and not just a string posts.  In Twitter, when someone replied to a Tweet I put up yesterday, it was hard to follow the conversation.  Plurk however, keeps everything together.
  2. Cliques – For sending messages to specific groups of contacts.  I can put all my Minnesota friends or work buddies in one group and send private messages just to them.
  3. Built in search. – I can instantly search for other Plurk users or topics from the timeline.  With Twitter, I have to use a separate service.
  4. Stars & Karma – I think these are two items that make you want to interact with the Plurk community.  The more posts you make, and the more you interact with Plurk, the more karma, and other goodies, you get.  Post way to often, not often at all, or spam people and your karma goes down.  You can also refer people to get stars on your profile.  Not killer features, but smart ones that keeps users coming back and engaged.
  5. Edit Plurks – When you create a Plurk post, publish it and then realize something is wrong, you can edit or delete it.  Yea!!!
  6. Friend – Fan Notifications in Plurk – Get notified of new friends or fans within the application.  You can get email alerts too, but it’s nice to see them integrated.
  7. Auto Update – The Plurk timeline automatically updates with new posts or replies.  No having to refresh the website.

These are just a few reasons why I like Plurk over Twitter.  There are some downsides too though as with any application.

Since Plurk is newer, it doesn’t yet have an official API and cool desktop applications.  Plurk will get there, but they are the new kid on the block who is focusing on creating a stable application so they don’t follow in Twitter’s recent footsteps with a large amount of downtime.

I do continue to read articles on how Plurk is not as good as Twitter.  But what bugs me is I don’t think those comparing the two are really comparing apples to apples.

When comparing Plurk and Twitter, you must not include Twhirl or Twitteriffic or one one of the many other Twitter apps that were not built by Twitter.  They are third party tools that Twitter fans built.  When Plurk comes out with an official API, they too will be able to have cool third party tools built.

Then there is the timeline.  Yes, the timeline takes time, for some, use to, but it really is easy and fun.  When something new comes along, you really should learn to use it before judging it.  And for those that don’t like it, they can always switch to the mobile version of Plurk.

Plurk really is a great social community tool.  Unlike some of the others out there, it’s taking micro-blogging to the next level and fixing some of the issues that plague other offerings.

Are you on Plurk?  What do you think?

Additional Plurk Resources:


19 Responses

  1. Mitch says:

    Yep, this is slowly turning into one of my favorites too (thanks to you!) have to admit it took a while to get used to, but now I got to check it at least a few times a day. Just need more people using it. 😀

  2. Jase says:

    Excellent post!.. am I on plurk?.. I think you know the answer to that.

  3. Kuanyin says:

    I want to know how to delete a plurk! Where is that info? Mahalo!

  4. Hey… cool here

    kisses

  5. Thomas says:

    Kuanyin – See the top right of the screenshot above, it shows where the delete link is.

  6. Jae says:

    Good post, I completely agree with you. I’ve gone over to Plurk and Twitter is now becoming simply part of my Ping.fm updates… nothing more.

  7. DaDuck says:

    I like plurk but I wish it had the connections that twitter has. Twitter is connected to my blog, to my utterz and flickr. Plus I can twitter via my mobile. Once plurk gets all those added incentives I will be happier with it and drop twitter completely.

  8. Nethead says:

    Good Post, I have to say that Jae, commented just as I was about to say.

    Also, it’s like gmail with their ‘filters’ which we all called folders; and it took some time to get use to. With plurk, after you use it, the timeline makes sense in the way plurk works.

  9. Thomas says:

    @DaDuck How does Twitter connect with your blog and other services? Also Plurk mobile is availabe. http://www.plurk.com/m

  10. Bob says:

    I like both. They both have things I like, and things I don’t like. I also like Friendfeed! I think it has potential as well…

  11. Zo says:

    The NAME, the NAME.

    How unfortunate. It will never go as far as Twitter … tweets, all that.

  12. Jason O. says:

    I tried Twitter but couldn’t get into it right away. Plurk grabbed me from the start and I’ve become a big fan! I love how you can follow conversations easily– it really becomes more about people talking to each other, rather than just “What are you doing now?”… so if I comment here, can I add you there? 🙂

  13. karto says:

    Do Twitter and Blogs Really Drive software sales?

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