This is a guest post from MikeonTV, the self proclaimed Social Media Jedi can be found all over the Internet on sites like Plurk and Twitter.
As microblogging and link sharing continues to grow in this world controlled by social media and user generated content, some successful services are losing out to alternatives that are taking their models and running with them. Innovation continues to be what the crowd is searching for and sites like Twitter are being left behind. What’s left to be seen is will these new products become the industry standard or will they just join the infinite list of flash in the pan sensations.
Twitter has, for a while, been the go to service for up to the minute news searching and instant gratification conversations. By taking the chatroom concept to static form and allowing its users the ability to join in on anyone’s conversations it has created a need for bloggers and social media addicts of all forms. What seems to be missing is the connection these users have with each other. Its flexibility, in the form of third party apps, has allowed anyone to manipulate what shows up in the timelines for every user. Today you can’t be sure if some of the ‘tweets’ are automated by a bot or RSS feed and it is destroying the integrity of the conversation. This is where Plurk has a new free reign.
Like Twitter, Plurk creates threads for each new post in the timeline and forces replies to be authentic and significant. The horizontal user interface breaths fresh life for its users and is charming enough to be the catalyst for a real meaningful response to a conversation starting post.
Earlier, I was interested incorporating an Apple machine into my primarily Linux and Microsoft world. Within minutes fellow Plurkers responded with thoughts and links to aid in my decision. With no noise coming in to the timeline from apps and feeds I was quickly able to further my decision making process (I’m looking on online classified sites for a used MacBook) and continue on with my day. The threaded version of my Plurk was a simple point of reference that I have checked multiple times since posting.
I’m afraid that unless I’m looking to jump in on a random conversation (something Plurk offers as well), Twitter is just too noisy for my needs.
{ 3 comments }
I don’t really see these two services as analagous long term. Plurk is a chatroom more or less. Twitter, in my mind has more utility for tracking thoughts and ideas.
Personally, I find Twitter much easier to scan for what’s going on. Plurk does not lend itself to this. Plus, the topics I see are either meta (about Plurk, or Plurk vs. Twitter, etc) or personal – like sharing videos or whatnot.
Just my two cents.
Plurk has a number of key advantages over its rivals, most of which centre around making conversations dynamic, linkable objects with a distinct beginning and an end.
These are concepts that our mind prefers over things like Twitter, which are indistinct and lacking in any real context.
When I first saw Plurk in action, I realized straight away that we were in the unique position of actually being able to see memes in action — as real things and not their traces, such as back-links and comments.
Now, combine Plurk with FriendFeed and all of sudden the depth & breadth of your timeline becomes apparent, as the conversations you begin fan out, melding into other social networking services, creating a rich, largely seamless mesh of discussions.
There’s no doubting that Plurk is a game changer. And even if for some reason Plurk was to just vanish — which I very much doubt — the genie is out of the bottle and someone else would just pick up where they left off.
You can’t unthink a good idea…
Great article on Plurk! I wouldn’t have met MikeOnTV if it wasn’t for Plurk and many other great social media buffs – it designs aids interactions with strangers and friends much more better than Twitter.
If you need friends on Plurk I’ll be happy to show you around too!
Plurkname: “mr_gadget”
Regards,
Arnold