New Community Badges and UI Tweak
I was going to go to the bar but somehow here I am blogging about Plurk. First thing I noticed when I routinely clicked “profile” and checked what was new were the new icons below karma. After seeing the community badges, I noticed the star appears there as well and no longer on the avatar on the timeline. I immediately started a plurk to see if anyone had noticed any other tweaks to the user interface; nothing.
Curious what a Plurk Community site is? At first I assumed it’s the “Unofficial Plurk Blog’s” listed on Plurk’s Official Blog; however Amix set the record straight. I’d assume qualifying websites are those that have really embraced plurk and are dedicated solely to it and have been for some time. It’s cool to be recognized by the designers; not aware of any other networks where the admins show appreciation like this. I’m curious what’s going to happen now… Everyone who received a badge the first go around is genuinely a plurk enthusiast as most of these sites were started within a month of the initial “Plurksplosion” into the scene in early June. Where will the line be drawn that determines if a site is eligible or not? I think largely it has to do with the definition of “community”; which typically involves some sort of defined purpose and level of activity. Will this create more work as the requests start flooding plurk’s inbox? Will this turn off people who for whatever reasons tried to get the badge but got rejected?
I’m undecided on the badge idea and my prediction is that the vast majority of plurker’s won’t care about or notice the new badges. I also believe a small group will make a big deal out of it being unfair while many more will apply for the badge whether they qualify or not.
I think this recent user interface could be a great transition towards a system geared more at the casual once a day or so plurker. (We addicts aren’t going anywhere; we love the platform) In this system the badges, stars and other symbols of participation levels(even karma) are visible but not the center of attention. Most plurkers won’t get a star, a badge or reach nirvana so why make them front and center like the star used to be and karma still kinda is? Where plurk goes from here is anyone’s guess but I’m looking forward to it.
Stay tuned for more things plurk,
- Rob
Rob, I agree with your point about Plurk becoming a system less devoted to badges and more relaxed about occasional users. And this is why I love it.
gianandrea facchini’s last blog post..The Medium was the message. Your company is the message, now.
I’ve noticed that Plurk (and the other so-called community sites) have completely ignored PlurkingPoppa so far. It’ll be interesting to see if the A-Team has the courage to identify Plurk-related sites which do more than just schmooze Plurk.
It will be interesting to see if those who “earn” a badge will lose that badge if they become critical of Plurk. I promote Plurk on facebook and twitter, but I am simply a heavy user and therefore not eligible for a badge of honor. I plurk because I enjoy the platform, not because of karma or badges or other junk. I am offended by the loss of karma when I have plurked during all but one or two of the karma cycles in a 24 hour period. FWIW, my plurk to response ratio is 1:5 or so.
First off this blog doesn’t schmooze plurk. If you read our bloggeries I’m arguably one of the most vocal critic at this time of the karma system. I also often write about all things plurk. Does it usually have somewhat of a positive tone to it? Absolutely; I run this blog as a hobby because I’m into plurk.
“I’m undecided on the badge idea and my prediction is that the vast majority of plurker’s won’t care about or notice the new badges. I also believe a small group will make a big deal out of it being unfair while many more will apply for the badge whether they qualify or not.”
The above quote is from this post. Sounds to me like you both fall under the predicted category of that small group who will make a big deal about how unfair the badges are.
@LChamp - you said in your message you don’t care about “badges or other junk” so… why make a deal out of not getting one?
@Plurkingpoppa - I don’t know what to tell you if you feel that the A-team
and other network admins are ignoring you…
I think you deserve recognition in the Plurk community for what you do on this blog. There is no one I can think of that would be upset. Also there may be a few new sites but I think those only work when you start them right away, like you and Plurkdaddy and Plurktionary. You should be rewarded and I am pleased that Plurk recognizes the effort put forth by all of you.
veronicaromm’s last blog post..Who Knew?
[...] last night Plurk released the new community badges and made some interface tweaks. Woke up this morning and the A-Team is at it again. The latest upgrade is the ability to reply to [...]
@plurkingpoppa: It’d be easier to participate with you if you turned on comments at your blog.
I think Plurk’s Karma system works as designed. I just have an issue with the design. I don’t want to lose any priviledges once I’ve earned them. I’d let me Karma decrease back to 0 if I could keep my layout and Plurk monster.
@Bloggeries I don’t make a big deal of MY not getting them, I just think it’s bad marketing. I have had plurk friends say they are leaving Plurk because of it. I didn’t think the dev team really wants to drive users away.
I can envision a group of youngsters who are trying to make themselves feel more important by creating and “awarding” these things while not knowing the negative consequences of what they are doing. Somebody has to tell them. Meanwhile, I’m just enjoying ‘talking’ with the friends that I have met on Plurk.
I like the new ‘reply feature’ and have so stated to @amix. Again, I really don’t care about the junk, but if I see bad marketing, I will speak up…even if nobody wants to hear it. I’m not trying to start an arguement…just stating my opinion.
@LChamp I hear ya; one thing I learned running a forum of obviously much smaller scope was that whatever you did there would be people who like / dislike. Just gotta do what you think is right.
Thanks for your comments,
Huh… Plurkingpoppa made an interesting point. I’m going to write a post today with a plurk critique and what can be made better; I suspect others have already made such a list. I don’t think it’s for Plurk schmoozers, but I can see why Plurkingpoppa may feel this way because he has a plurk blog and was excluded.
Jane Chin’s last blog post..What are We Squeezin’?
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