Plurk

Plurk (/ˈplɜːrk/) is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (otherwise known as plurks) through short messages or links, which can be up to 360 text characters in length (as of December 28, 2016, immediately prior to which the limit was 210, which was increased from the original limit of 140).[7]

Plurk
The website's timeline set in horizontal fashion
Type of site
Social network service and Micro-blogging
Available inMultilingual (45 languages)[1]
Headquarters
Taipei
,
Taiwan
OwnerPlurk, Inc.
Created byThe A-team[2]
URLwww.plurk.com
Alexa rank 1,402 (Global, June 2019)[3]
49 (Taiwan, June 2019)[3]
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedMay 12, 2008 (2008-05-12)[4]
Current statusActive
Plurk
Screenshot
Plurk's mobile application on iOS
Initial releaseOctober 31, 2013 (2013-10-31)
Stable release(s) [±]
iOS6.3.1 / May 8, 2019 (2019-05-08)[5]
Android6.2.2 / May 17, 2019 (2019-05-17)}[6]
Operating systemWeb, iOS, Android
Size11 MB
TypeSocial media service
Websitewww.plurk.com 

Updates are then shown on the user's home page using a timeline, which lists all the updates received in chronological order, and delivered to other users who have chosen to receive them. A unique feature of its timeline is horizontal scrolling[8] which is unlike any other popular social networking or micro-blogging websites[9] like Twitter or Facebook, where users can see more posts running horizontally across the screen, with previous plurks to the right. Each of the threads shows timestamps below the timeline frame, and a counter for the number of responses; a thread can have as many as 300 to a thousand responses.[10] Users can respond to other users' updates from their timeline through the Plurk.com website, by private or instant messaging, or by text messaging via compatible third party applications.

According to Alexa, as of November 15, 2017, 70.1% of Plurk's traffic comes from Taiwan. Plurk is also ranked the 48th in Taiwan and the 1,623rd worldwide.[3]

History

After months of development, Plurk was launched on May 12, 2008.[11]

The etymology of the name was explained by the developers as such:[12]

While it is difficult to track down the names of the creators of Plurk, and the "A-Team" link listed under "creator" leads to a page that lacks any real information, it is known that the current CEO is Alvin Woon. In January 2013, it was announced that the company has been headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, while it has landed [an] undisclosed amount of funding." [13]

Features and technology

Plurk's interface shows updates in horizontal form through a scrollable timeline written in JavaScript and updated through AJAX. Users can modify the interface using CSS and HTML scripts as well. Users can post new messages with optional 'qualifiers', which are one-word verbs used to represent a thought (e.g., 'feels', 'thinks', 'loves', etc.). There are also advanced features such as sending updates only to a subset of your friends, posting updates on events earlier in the day, and sharing images, videos, and other media.[14] Followers are allowed, but only limited to accounts that are not set as private. Users can upload media files through YouTube, links and webcam or from their computer. Plurks can also be 'liked', as in other social sites. In addition, it has a birthday reminder feature that places a birthday cake sign on all the user's messages on his/her birthday. Every plurker has his/her own Karma value. It is recalculated based on your activities. Higher Karma can access to more emoticons.

Plurk also supports group conversations between friends and allows usage of emoticons together with the usual text micro-blogging.[15] Plurk also supports the upload of users' own pictures as emoticons.

The Plurk.com developers allowed public access to the API on December 4, 2009.[16]

Due to messages being sent between users in near-realtime, many users use Plurk as an alternative to chat.

Availability in other languages

To help translate their base list of qualifiers/verbs, Plurk hosts its own translation website where users can submit translations of the Plurk user interface in other languages.[17] As of July 2008, Plurk is translated into over twenty languages.

Reception

Plurk was occasionally referred to as a rival to Twitter, an earlier micro-blogging service, during its first year.[18][19]

In June 2008, Plurk received online attention when it was featured by Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur on their net@night show in the TWiT.tv podcast network.[20][21]

Controversies

MSN Juku controversy
Main article: MSN China § MSN Juku

In November 2009, MSN China launched an Internet application called MSN Juku in beta. Observers noted similarity between the MSN Juku user interface and that of Plurk,[22] which was blocked in China in April 2009. Microsoft later indefinitely suspended MSN Juku, admitting to accusations that MSN China plagiarized about 80% of Plurk's original code, as well as elements of their CSS and unique user interface features.[23][24]

Post calling for the assassination of President Ma Ying-jeou

On March 20, 2010, Taiwanese police investigated an Internet threat posted on plurk.com that called for the assassination of the President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou.[25]

References
  1. Nystedt, Dan (December 14, 2009). "Plurk users bring microblogging to many languages". Network World. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  2. Plurk.com. "The A-Team". Plurk Inc. Archived from the original on 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  3. "Plurk.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  4. Amir Salihefendic (2008-05-12). "Plurk.com opens up". Archived from the original on 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  5. "Plurk on the App Store". iTunes Store. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  6. "Plurk on Google Play Store". Google Play Store. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  7. Plurk EN (2016-12-28). "We've increased the max. of chars for each plurk". Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  8. Wayne Smallman (June 4, 2008). "What is Plurk?". blahblahtech.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  9. Prashant Sharma (September 17, 2008). "Why 'Plurking' is more FUN than 'Tweeting'". TechPluto.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  10. Leggio, Jennifer (July 13, 2008). "Eating a little crow about Plurk". ZDnet. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  11. akan (2008-05-20). "das leben der anderen - a window into the lives of others". Plurk Inc. Archived from the original on 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  12. akan (2008-06-02). "'Plurk'? An etymological deconstruction of the word you love to hate". Plurk Inc. Archived from the original on 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  13. Jon Russell (2013-01-23). "One-time Twitter rival Plurk lands million-dollar investment and relocates to Asia". The Next Web, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  14. Plurk.com. "FAQ". Plurk, Inc.
  15. Prashant Sharma. "Why Plurking is more fun than tweeting". TechPluto. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  16. alvin (2009-12-04). "Plurk API Service". Plurk.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01.
  17. akan (2008-06-28). "Introducing the Plurk Collaborative Translation Project - Help Us Bring Plurk to your Language". Plurk Inc. Archived from the original on 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  18. Michael Muchmore (2008-06-23). "Plurk.com - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine". Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  19. Stii Pretorius (2008-06-03). "Plurk, the new Twitter?". Mail & Guardian Online. Archived from the original on 2009-09-12. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  20. Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte (2008-06-04). "net@night 55: Tiffany Roll". TwiT.tv. Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  21. Rafe Needleman (2008-06-02). "Plurk: Like Twitter, in good and bad ways". CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2008-07-23. An influx of users over the weekend (which is being blamed on or credited to Leo Laporte) has apparently overloaded the system, and occasionally users may find elements of it not working.
  22. McGlaun, Shaun (2009-12-01). "Microsoft unveils Twitter clone called MSN Juku". TweakTown. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
  23. "Microsoft China rips off Asia's No. 1 Microblogging Service". Plurk Labs Official Blog. 2009-12-14. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
  24. "Start-up claims Microsoft China took its code". 2009-12-14. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
  25. "Plurk User Calls for Assassination of Taiwan President". taipeitimes.com. 2009-03-21.
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