Welcome to Plurk

I first signed up to Plurk because I liked the way it looked – ie the user interface – and I still do.

I keep using Plurk, however, because I like the community of people that I have around me.  I’ve met stacks of amazing people with a variety of interests, skills and philosophies – that it’s so easy to communicate in a community-like way via Plurk makes this all the better an experience.

Whilst I use Plurk to have fun and be a part of the community of people I choose to have around me, I’ve also found and connected with a grand assortment of photographers, many who participate in Plurk People Photo A Day group.  As a keen photographer, I much enjoy and make use of Plurk’s ability to display images on my timeline and have found this most useful in sharing my photography with others – another big tick in Plurk’s favour.

Over the next while, I hope to be making irregular posts sharing some of the photography I find via Plurk – I hope you enjoy these images and that your Plurk experience is as enjoyable as mine.

I think it’s grand that Plurk has opened up its blog for Plurkers to contribute their experiences of Plurk and then to be able to read those – thanks Plurk.

Rantz,
Darwin, Oz

PS – I also collects 23s.

The feature that I love most about Plurk is Karma. Every time I check Plurk, which is usually after breakfast, the first thing I do is to see how high my Karma points are. I would then try to calculate how many days it would take for me to go up another 1.00 while figuring out what random thought to Plurk first or what interesting news, media, and articles I can share with my Plurk friends and fans.

I guess I have my gamer self to blame for wanting to always gain Karma boosts. Every 1.00 is a level achieved and every 0.01 to 0.99 is experience gained from Plurking, responding to my friends’ plurks, and sharing all kinds of hullaballoo like news, pictures, YouTube videos, and articles of all sorts of topics. It’s always an achievement for me whenever my Karma increases and a downer whenever I’ve forgotten to freeze before leaving for a family outing or when I’m too busy to remember to update my profile.

So until I’ve reached Enlightenment, a.k.a. total Nirvana at 100, here are some tips I’d like to share with you when boosting your Karma points:

• Complete your profile. Uploading a picture and entering your current location can already boost Karma for you.
• Plurk regularly. You don’t have to Plurk a hundred times a week or twenty times a day. Just Plurk at least a couple of times to show that you’re an active member with hopes of reaching Nirvana and the Plurk gods will notice you.
• Plurk interesting stuff. The internet is brimming with all kinds of interesting stuff. Just yesterday for example, I plurked about how a male bedbug would drill a hole into his female counterpart because the latter normally doesn’t have a vagina ready for mating.
• Reply to your friends’ plurks. The reason why Plurk is considered a social networking site is because you can connect and share with your Plurk buddies. In my opinion, this is probably the feature that gives Plurk an edge over other micro-blogging sites. You get to comment and reply to other Plurks whether your replies are of amazement or fury.
• Invite friends to join your network. If you have a classmate who’s on Plurk, check out his or her list of friends and you might just find someone who you’d like to invite into your network. I did this with one of my best friends and found WilliamShakespeare to which I clicked on the Add as a Friend button on his profile immediately.
• DON’T SPAM. Definitely Plurk will remind you of this whenever you attempt to or accidentally plurk the same message more than 5 times.
• Freeze it. Karma freeze is a feature reserved if you are going to be away from the Plurk world for a long period of time. If you think you won’t be able to plurk in a week or two, freeze your account. The 1.00 Karma spent will keep you from losing probably 3-5 Karma points for inactivity.

Each time I log on to Plurk, it’s always a new adventure unfolding before me. The Karma just makes it even more entertaining, especially with all the new smilies, the badges, and friends who complain about how high your Karma points are than theirs. Sure, at the end of the road all this is going to stop, but I’d like to immerse myself in the fun process of getting to that end while I’m still at 93.49.

these generous tips are brought to you by Stef Gonzaga,  20, from Bacolod, Philippines – http://www.plurk.com/alexis0fdreams

Plurk is an ephemeral place where we plurxers exchange ideas and suggestions in the format of 140 characters or less. It is amazing what can be communicated within such limitations; the rich variety speaks to the brilliant creativity of plurk users.

I was thinking the other day about the range of shared information on plurk. Such items extend from the very personal to the broadly cultural. We explore ideas, talk politics, share favorite reads, dish gossip, express opinions, offer support and love. We discuss, debate, sympathize and sometimes argue and bicker. In all interactions, we have come to know one another surprisingly well. Through plurk’s unique format, a collection of rather complex relationships have developed. It’s quite curious and wonderful.

One of the things we discuss all too regularly is what we are cooking or eating (or dreaming of eating).  Often in my own plurks, I have expressed my love of the power food, spinach. And since I have often referred to my favorite spinach pancakes, in this, my first plurk blog entry, I have decided to share a recipe. Enjoy as a side dish or an entrée.

Spinach Pancakes

10 ounces fresh spinach, well washed, large stems removed, or 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (I prefer to use fresh spinach).
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk or thin yogurt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter, plus unmelted butter for cooking or

oil for cooking (canola or olive oil)
1 cup sour cream, optional
1 tablespoon minced lemon peel, optional.

Cooking Instructions

1. Put spinach in a covered saucepan over medium heat, with just the water that clings to its leaves after washing; or plunge it into a pot of salted boiling water. Either way, cook it until it wilts, just a couple of minutes. Drain, cool, squeeze dry and chop.

2. Heat large skillet over medium-low heat while you make batter. Heat oven to 200F degrees. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Place 1 1/2 cups buttermilk in another bowl. Beat eggs into it and then stir in the melted butter. Stir this into dry ingredients, adding a little more buttermilk if batter seems thick; stir in spinach.

3. Place a teaspoon or two of butter or olive oil in pan. (If using butter, when butter foam subsides, ladle batter onto skillet, making any size pancakes you like). Adjust heat as necessary; first batch will require higher heat than subsequent batches. Add more butter to pan as necessary. Brown bottoms in 2 to 4 minutes. Flip when pancakes are fully cooked on bottom; they will hold together well when they are ready.

4. Cook each pancake until second side is lightly browned. As pancakes are done, place them on an ovenproof plate in warm oven for up to 15 minutes.

5. Mix sour cream and lemon peel together. Serve with a small dollop on each pancake.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Written by @griffonage from Ortville, Cali-zona, United States.

October 2008, I received some emails from my two best friends inviting me to sign up to Plurk. I was like, “What??” So I guess I clicked on a link or something and viewed their timeline. My social exposure at this time was limited only to the more popular Friendster, Facebook, Multiply and Blogspot. I had little background on Twitter (What the heck was a Tweet?? Follow who? Where?) and had question marks in my head when I came across the term “micro-blogging”. I was used to full pledged blogging – pouring your heart out, flat out venting, criticizing, pondering. How the hell does one micro-blog? In 140 chars or less?

So I browsed my bestfriends’ timelines, and found it quite confusing. Having to scroll down a Timeline, with miniature posts (much like status messages in FB or shoutouts in Friendster)…It was all new to me. But, as luck would have it, the absence of a boss prompted me to have a little freedom to explore an unchartered territory. But not alone. I “bullied” my nearby officemates into signing up for Plurk too. I emailed my other officemates off-site to sign up to Plurk…. And the rest is history.

Ironically, one would expect that because I was the one who started the Plurk Mania here in the office, that I would have already reached Nirvana. Nope. Because starting December 2008 (roughly 2 months after Plurk took our office by storm), I was on the final stages of my wedding preparations and wasn’t able to login till after the honeymoon I think. So my rising karma at that time (in the 70’s or 80’s I guess) was reduced to… what… 40’s? I dunno. There wasn’t a karma freeze option yet… Wasn’t there? Or even if there was, I didn’t know about it. So, goodbye leading karma.

Then I got pregnant, and because of a sensitive pregnancy, my Plurk time was even more lessened. I decided to freeze my karma somewhere in the 70’s just to be sure. It is from that last karma freeze that I am building up my karma now.

As we speak, Plurk is already a way of life here in the office. This is how we vent, express our frustrations and happiness in short sentences. This is where we connect with our ex-officemates – whether they are still in the Philippines or abroad. In fact, one of our consolations to those who are leaving is “Don’t worry, there’s still Plurk.” Or “We’ll still see you in Plurk everyday.” There have also been quite a number of outings and gimmicks planned over Private Plurks (in fact, one is happening this weekend!)

Oh, and it was just last month that some of us got the hang of Twitter, and even now I still get confused with it. I’m used to the organized conversations in Plurk.

Click –> Mozilla Firefox. Load –> Office Mail. Load –>Plurk. Load –>Facebook. That’s our daily morning ritual.

Written by Eva Dueñas Capistrano, 28, from Philippines. http://www.plurk.com/unicaivah

自從欣西亞囘到臺灣後，噗浪便全面入侵我的生活
其實我在美國就已經開始使用噗浪
只不過跟大家時空不同，發噗的時間跟在台灣的A段班同學有時差
回噗跟互動無法這麼迅速即時
所以並沒有像現在如此這般令人無可自拔

現在可好，來到台灣之後情況就全面失控
不知道從什麼時候開始
我的生活就被噗浪漸漸蠶食鯨吞就好像風中破碎的秋海棠
沒有噗浪就會心慌意亂、六神無主、眼神渙散跟大小便失禁（喂！）
總之我和跟噗浪還有噗友的關係密切十分難説明
如果要用現在最流行的詞兒去描述
那應該像是恐怖片裏面的「人體蜈蚣」無誤吧…

總之，如果是我跟噗浪還有噗友們的關係
噗浪是頭,噗友在中間,而我在尾
噗友吃噗浪拉的屎然後我再吃噗友的屎維生
雖然沒什麽營養價值但吃進去的感覺
就像是吃了八瓢以上的「暢快人生」那樣的暢快
總之就是一個爽
爽歪歪的爽!!!!!!

(to be continued…)

English-translated version.

Written by 欣西亞, 30, from California USA. http://www.plurk.com/cynthia_0501

On June 16, 2008, I joined Plurk. I had been hearing about it for a few days from some friends, and finally caved in and joined.

Almost two months later, I was one of a group of nine friends. We were friends from different parts of the country. Plurk united and brought together people who would not have otherwise met.

Well, almost two years has passed since then. Our original group became very close…then everyone eventually went on their own way.

I am now the proud member of a group of probably thirty friends. I don’t know what I would do without these people. These people, this website…it has completely changed my life. I’m not the same person now that I was two years ago.

Now, I have better friends than I have ever had in my life. I am dating a beautiful girl. I have gotten two of my friends together who would not have otherwise met.

I don’t know where I would be without Plurk. Thank you, creators of Plurk, so much. I can’t express how grateful I am.

Written by Taylor, 15, from Chino Hills, CA, United States. http://www.plurk.com/iPodjunkie

This is my first blog meant for a Plurk or at least potential Plurker audience. What can I say about my first year and now officially over a half years of being a loyal Plurker myself? Well only that it has been the best parts of my day, every day each time I connect.

This has been the place where I’ve met a variety of people with a multitude of interests; from writing to designing jewellery, computer programming and video shooting. I dare say this has been one character building experience I’d recommend to the world.

Plurk for me is unique in the respect it doesn’t just accommodate the needs of those who don’t speak English, French, Spanish or even mandarin. It encourages the all to join and mingle if they want! Not Facebook, Twitter nor My Yearbook offer such a feat, despite being worldwide.

I am also surprised Plurk has shown no evidence of seeking out celebrity endorsement or even trying to fleece one person out of a penny, which I’m eternally thankful for as I don’t have a penny to my own name.

So perhaps Plurk is the solution to everyone’s problems? No, though as a site where a mélange of cultures collide, peace is well maintained. My own best friend lives half way across the world and is Mexican, something I never envisioned as a child, though have no regrets about now.

I ask myself daily what I would do without Plurk, and my answer every time? Read a book, lie on my bed, everything that suggests my total boredom and search for friendship in the vast world I’d have not fathomed without the genius which is Plurk.

I suppose on a philosophical level, Plurk is its own world, or even a heaven to some, with its own Gods protecting the system, and users. And everyone whether they be white, green, blue, purple, brown, black, have one eye or three, whether they be a sadist or Hindu, catholic or Muslim, in Plurk those differences are shed from us all and we become only a Plurker.

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were reading this and were not a member of Plurk, I would be signing up before I finished this article. Plurk has provided for me a family or friends; where else can you find that?

Finally I just want to thank Plurk and you all for being there for me, I’ll see you all soon.

Written by Joseph, 17,  from UK. http://www.plurk.com/LeFox

To all Plurk users,

We have a confession to make – we need help in maintaining our blog. To be precise, we need your help.

Over the past year, we probably published like what, 4 blog posts? As a small team of 6, there just isn’t enough time. Our motivation, time and resources are spent on mundane tasks such as improving Plurk, fixing bugs, introducing new features, sobbing over angry users emails and taking out the trash. Of course, some of you have written to us before complaining about the lack of updates on our blog and that we need to do more in promoting Plurk and keep the media buzz going. I fully agree. I know how bad it reflects on us, as a community, as a company and as a product, when people find out about Plurk, go to Plurk.com, check out our blog and find that the last time it was updated was 6 months ago. Is this company even alive? We are and we are growing at a tremendous pace and we need to let people know how awesome this community is. We can do better.

So why don’t you write for us? Anything related to Plurk is welcomed. Your stories, constructive criticism, suggestions, meet ups, funny plurks, what Plurk has done to you, what you have done for Plurk (I always wanted to hear some feedback from our beloved translators) and etc. You can write whatever you want – surprise us. You probably have already written something similar on your own blog. You can cross-post it to blog.plurk.com. We will be more than happy to drive some traffic your way with disclaimer and link-backs. We can also give you access to our WordPress blog as an author. Of course, not all submissions will be published. And if we do get a lot of contributions, we will spread them out just so we have enough content to publish for the next 5 months. So please don’t worry if you don’t see your writing on our blog as soon as you submitted it.

If you are interested, you can write to us here. You can cut and paste your entire article or give us a link to your writing. Either way works. We will notify you when we publish it.

You can also write in your own native language(s). It might take us some time to google translate and review it so please be patience.

Oh and all published contributors will be given a happy, pinky microphon-ish badge as a token of our overdosing love-appreciation – tada!

Beside from the occasional official announcements, we hope this blog will be largely maintained and written by you from now on.

Thank you in advance. Please take care of our blog.

Alvin,
co-founder, Plurk.com

Plurk officially came out of beta on Sunday 1st June 2008. This is probably why there is a candle next to your Plurk animal on your timeline at the moment.

Brief introduction: For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Rammi, a simple Plurk user who was technically meant to be keeping the blog updated. As you can see, I kind of failed at that. Sorry for the blog silence, guys.
I have been asked to share my “Plurk story,” or rather, my experiences of being a Plurk member.

As a user who only joined the website on the 8th of June 2008, I wasn’t actually around for Plurk’s ‘birth’, as it were. At the time, I was still on Twitter, posting angsty teenage thoughts and wondering what this whole social networking shebang was all about. Then, suddenly, there it was. The name. PLURK. Every single person I followed seemed to be talking about it. It was heralded as a competitor to Twitter, a brand new way of communicating, a replacement to life as we knew it, etc. It depended on which tech blog you read (I might also be slightly exaggerating on the last point). It sounded AMAZING. I initially had reservations, but since all my friends at the time were joining, I thought it couldn’t hurt.

I was soon addicted. It was less cluttered than other websites I’d used. I found it easy to connect with people and have random conversations. The karma system had me hooked, and I would have done anything to be able to use a little dancing banana in my plurks.

Two years on, Plurk still is the best website I ever made the decision to join, and I’m not just saying that because I’m writing this here. Sure, I still use other social networking sites, but Plurk’s still the first place I go to when given the option.

I’ve learnt so much from Plurk. Plurkers give me help and advice when I have issues, send me weird and wonderful links that make me laugh and cry at the same time, and, most importantly, have let me befriend them. I’ve developed relationships on here that I know will last a lifetime. In the last two years, I’ve also been given my own  emoticon and have access to this lovely blog.
Unlike many other websites online, I actually feel like I’m valued and part of a community here.

Happy birthday, Plurk. Here’s to many more.

Do you have a better (less cheesy-sounding) Plurk story that wasn’t written by a half-asleep person at 3AM? Shoot me an email at glomprammi@glomp.me.