Why Plurk will not survive the Social Networking Wars
I logged into my Plurk profile today and said to myself, looks like I’m going to have to let this go. In roughly a month, my “karma” has gone down from a high 92 to a measly 72. The sad thing about it, is that I really don’t care.
Plurk became popular at the workplace in 2008 primarily for planning the occasional dinner or night out. A simple “Drinks tonight?” Plurk can collect as many comments as necessary, right down to how many tables the group should be reserving. In other instances, I was able to reconnect with former colleagues, and at the same time unknowingly become updated with whatever else was happening. I’ve even used Plurk to determine who I should be working with. More presence on Plurk meant less time for actual work.
Personal experiences aside, those are not the reasons why I think Plurk will not survive the social networking wars.
- Badge System – A quick inspection of Plurk’s badge system will reveal that a user can acquire a total of 30 badges. These range from X number of “Plurks”, right down to how long you have been a user of the service. The biggest flaw here is that there’s really no substantial incentive to acquire the badges in the first place.
- Notification system – As of this writing, I have a total of 6 badges on my profile, NONE OF WHICH I WAS AWARE OF. The Plurk team should have done a better job in taking care of user engagement.
- Karma System – I never reached 100 karma points on Plurk, but was there any reason to? Plurk’s karma system, which is based on “Plurks”, replies, or reply volume to any of your plurks, was never really enough incentive to keep your account going. I know a few people who have already quit using Plurk after achieving 100 karma points.
- User History – Browsing through your Plurk profile will prove to be frustrating at best. The timeline orientation, along with the different planes format of each individual Plurk, make it a frustrating experience.
The usual argument when letting a social network go, is usually, “What does Social Network A have the Social Network B doesn’t?” Or, “Most of my friends and family are on Social Network A, so why should I give Social Network B a shot?” It’s not about which social network was first, or which social network is bigger. It’s all about which social network was able to provide the most fulfilling user experience.
Plurk was very promising, more engaging than Twitter even. Sadly, my stint with Plurk has turned into nothing more than a social network novelty.
