Comments on: Plurk - Why Can’t We Just Be Friends?

By: Bloggeries

Bloggeries — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:22:32 +0000

We’ll see what the future holds however I doubt they’ll change it sadly.

By: 54degrees @Plurk

54degrees @Plurk — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:33:33 +0000

Since clieques aren’t working yet, the whole friends/fan solution is more then irritating.

Everyone just wants a big friends-counter (karma go go!) and being a Fan is worth nothing. I hope the system gets some updates to this part soon.

By: daysies

daysies — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:25:06 +0000

it’s too early for me to be digesting this friend/fan thing, but i will say i like what you came up with for Plurk: Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, Karma. that’s great!
daysies’s last blog post..don’t forget your happy slip

By: Howard Yermish

Howard Yermish — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:23:36 +0000

Yes, I agree that the friend/fan thing is a bit confusing. I think that if the goal was to make a distinction between people that you know and people that you have interacted with on a social network site, friend status would be very hard to come by. And people like to feel that they have lots of friends.

I wish that it worked this way: If I follow you I’m a fan, if you follow me back, we then become friends. That just makes everything much simpler. And they have “cliques” as well to add to the confusion. I think that they over engineered the solution.

Howard Yermish’s last blog post..Build Your Network in Advance

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:09:21 +0000

Frankly, I kind of like ambiguity. My ego is far too fragile to handle being “rejected as friend.” (!)

; )

By: Vaughn Sanders

Vaughn Sanders — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:52:11 +0000

My approach to Plurk’s friend/fan is a little different. If I know someone I will request to be friended on Plurk. However, if I don’t know the person but have seen their comments in other threads, I may request to be their fan. Some people have various requirements when adding friends while others don’t.

If I am a fan, I can respond to comments that they have made and begin to get to know them better. Once we get more acquainted it is up to them if they want to friend me later or not. I think this is Plurk courtesy.

It will help to have less ambiguity as the service evolves though.

By: Pierre-Philippe Martin

Pierre-Philippe Martin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:03:02 +0000

Good observation. I hope the PlurkBuddy is listening carefully.

Pierre-Philippe Martin’s last blog post..Knitted fishes invade Cityplaza