On the topic of the new front page, while I do like the old one a lot better I can still see the need for the change. Plurk needed something a little more streamline to attract investors to the service. If this is not the case, and Plurk is not getting their funding from investors then that leaves one to wonder where on earth their current funding is actually coming from. I think while the new front page is not the old front page by any means, it is still very attractive and would not detract too many would-be Plurkers from coming. Plus once you sign-up you don’t have to see that page too often.

As far as the affiliate link comment, when I am trying to attract someone to plurk I will usually give both links. I will put the affiliate link after the plurk.com link and make sure to tell them that if they like what I wrote then use the affiliate link to give me credit for the invite so I get my shiny new star. I also will let them know that if they want to they can use the direct plurk link as that makes some people feel safer. I find that 9 times out of 10 they use my link instead of the direct one because I was so honest with them about it from the get go.

Anyways, I know this has been long but you brought up a lot of interesting points and they are things I have commented on in the past. Please note that these are my opinions and other people may view these topicas differently. Well, that’s what these comments are here for right? So I encourage everyone else to discuss their views here. We want to hear your opinion too =)

-Thoughtwrong

It was hard enough to get me to Plurk in the first place (Twitter’s zillionth failure finally did me in), but my reaction before that was “Why join ANOTHER microblogging site?” But Twitter was dying so I did it. Otherwise I would not be on there - even now. Now add Karma to the mix and it’s just ANOTHER reason not to be a part of another social blogging site.

Unless Plurk makes some real changes to Karma or eliminates it altogether, or replaces it with something less
“needy” I believe you will eventually see people migrateBACK to twitter - which could be what you are seeing now.

DM

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One thing I totally forgot about how incredibly barren it is when you first signup. If I didn’t have a friend like @theGypsy to kinda show me around I would of bounced. I just remember that 1st plurk you make. I think I wrote “Can anyone see this!?” luckily the guy I joined under replied and well the rest is history.

This brings me back to the whole… What is the A-Team actually looking to promote? You have a badge for fans now, nothing for friends and its still VERY hard to find new friends when you’re first starting out.

I think the average user isn’t already a total social media addict who just adds their friends list from other networks. Even heavy users you want to meet NEW people. Why go to a new network to talk with old friends?

I might write another post later on how / why is it so cumbersome to meet new people. It’s definitely a drawback.

Thanks for your thoughts!

However, one reason I DID join was to get away from all the “pressures” I feel over at StumbleUpon (it’s not SU, it’s me due to my following and other people’s expectations there). Here I wanted to just be in some relaxing company and talk to folks and enjoy immediate feedback to my thoughts, etc.

But I’m kind of rebelling/resisting this whole Karma thing. It grates. I don’t want to feel like I HAVE to post, which is why I think a lot of the “plurks” cluttering up my screen are so trivial and senseless. It’s hard to have “depth” in your plurks if you have to be more concerned with quantity over quality!

For that very reason (some people plurking constantly all over the place, making it a nightmare to navigate and keep up with everything), I had to drop some new “friends” I’d made because their plurks were just visual clutter to me. (Yes I know that sounds rude, but I think the fact that we HAVE to post constantly to keep our karma encourages this kind of mindless plurking.) I think newbies (like myself!) get driven away from the demands made by the system.

Another reason I think new people leave is because when they start, many don’t know how to integrate themselves into other conversations and thus spend quite a lonely time plurking to themselves. I noticed several of these yesterday while I was checking out some random people and it seemed kind of depressing, actually.

I would probably like this and recommend it to my friends much more if there was no “catch” (i.e., KARMA) that makes you feel like a failure in some intangible way if your little arrow goes down. We’re adults. I think we are capable of using this feature in a manner that suits us and if given that free reign, will be more likely to encourage growth and participation from new people because we LIKE it, not because we have to.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a rebel at heart, but the more I feel pressured to do stuff, the less likely I’ll do it. That’s why you don’t see any “friends invited” in my little stats box ~ because I haven’t invited any. If the structural basis relaxes a bit and doesn’t seem like such a taskmaster, that might change.

So I’m happy with not reaching “karma nirvana” simply because I don’t have the patience to post enough to keep it anyway. I want what I say to reflect who I am, what I’m feeling, what I want it to say. Not spend my time yapping about really inane superficialities (unless I’m in the mood). And I have times when I’m sick and won’t be around at all. Imagine being at a network where you’re penalized for being sick and can’t post. That’s essentially how I view it. You have to work a lot harder to gain karma than to lose it, and I don’t think this is a very good motivator for most who want to use Plurk to relax, not compete (we get enough competition in the real world).

One last thing: anything even remotely “spammy” will not be utilized by me. I hate being spammed by friends (even well-meaning ones) and won’t do that to others. So that was a great point about the Invite code, as well.

Just my thoughts (as a relative newbie).

Cheers,
caile~

caile’s last blog post..http://caile-girl.stumbleupon.com/review/20408366/