Plurk.com: Twitter on a timeline
Meet Plurk, another Twitter-like microblogging service. It’s a fairly new addition to a space that also includes Pownce and Jaiku.
After using it for a few hours, I’m torn between loving Plurk’s take on the 140-character update and thinking there’s just too much interface. Plurk does some things beautifully — the Getting Started Guide — for example. And yet, when compared to the simpler Twitter interface, I can’t decide whether Plurk’s features are cool or superfluous.
How Plurk is different
Plurk takes the microblog post and contextualizes it by placing it on a scrolling timeline.
Within the timeline you can view your posts and your friends’ posts. Mousing over an entry reveals the post’s content. The timeline scrolls either with arrow buttons (visible on hover) or by dragging.
As with Pownce, Plurk’s developers have built conversations into the interface. You can post comments on any entry, unless the author has disabled them. Every Plurk post also has a permanent page with comments. I’m a big fan of the comments model. I think they’re far easier to follow than the unthreaded conversations on Twitter.
As with Twitter, Plurk posts are limited to 140 characters. URLs don’t appear to work against your character count. You can easily share Flickr and YouTube content by linking to the URL of the image or video.
Grammar nerds can also rejoice. Twitter’s web interface asks “What are you doing?” I usually feel compelled to answer with a grammatically correct sentence. Plurk lets you choose your verb. Clicking on the verb (they’re color-coded) highlights entries with similar verbs.
You can also add emoticons to your post, though adding “extra exclusive emoticons” requires “karma.”
Community through Karma
To encourage use and interaction, and to build audience, Plurk awards uses a rewards system that it calls “karma.” Tabulated daily, you earn karma by inviting friends and using the site. With karma, you get extra privileges, such as the ability to change your user name, choose another tier of illustrations, and customize your page.
Karma feels like a condescending pat on the head to me, but I see how it can encourage adoption.
Plurk and privacy
Plurk has more nuanced privacy controls than the leader in this space. Twitter’s privacy settings are an all or nothing proposition. Plurk, however, lets you restrict viewing to friends, friends of friends, or to yourself. Plurk (like Pownce) also offers a per-post privacy setting. Even if your profile is public, you can still restrict who sees a particular entry.
Plurk on the desktop
Unlike Twitter, which has Twitterrific, Twhirl (which can post to Pownce), and at least two Firefox extentions, there are no Plurk desktop clients just yet. According to the site, you can send posts from AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, GTalk or Jabber. But I received an error message when I tried to do so.
Bottom line
I think Plurk comes closes to getting the microblogging thing right. It’s more robust than Twitter with its privacy settings, per-post settings and timeline. And yet, the interface still feels clean and simple. Pownce has a more solid file-sharing platform, but Plurk’s interface seems to get out of the way, where Pownce gets in it.
I’d love to see Plurk release an API, a desktop client, and offer SMS integration. Part of what makes Twitter so kick-a** is that it’s not limited to the browser. You can send tweets on the go, or from a specialty app. If Plurk hopes to gain any traction, these additions are key.
What’s your take?