Plurkathon Week
I spent this past week doing a “Plurkathon”, which means I spend as much time Plurking as reasonably feasible. Since I run a business and take care of an infant, my plurkathon to someone else may seem to be a plurking stroll and nowhere near its neologism.
Here’s what I started out with on July 6:
Karma 60.51
# of Plurks 307
# of Plurk Responses 934
Profile Views 835
Here’s what I have as of today July 11:
Karma 62.10
# of Plurks 349
# of Plurk Responses 1558
Profile Views 1056
I ran a Plurkathon and all I got was this lousy 1.59 increase in Karma!
But seriously… I didn’t do a Plurkathon to raise Karma points. I was experimenting with different ways to engage on Plurk. Some observations:
First I began by throwing out a bunch of questions, and some were picked up and others got 0 response. This led me to try a different approach:
I began to focus more on responding to topics I was interested in. I also began muting many plurks that I knew I wasn’t going to follow or that was really a “lifestream” (i.e. “I am going grocery shopping! I’m picking out the produce! I’m running my credit card through the machine right now!”………… Ok enough with that already, we get it, you are really plugged in online and can use one handed typing while doing everything else with the other…)
I used Private Plurking to engage in more in-depth discussions with specific groups of people instead of opening the topic to public, and…
I ALMOST participated in the tail end of a Plurkshop if I didn’t have a baby diaper emergency that required a bottle of carpet cleaner and about 100 baby wipes or paper towels.
I came away with firm belief that Plurk is a useful platform that at best, generates new ideas (I came away with 18 potential article topics for the day when my baby goes to college and I finally have time to write articles again) and at worst, is a highly addictive online water cooler.
I can’t wait for the next time when I do another Plurkathon!
I’d say my first couple of weeks on Plurk felt like a Plurkathon. I was constantly scrolling, updating and Plurking at all times during the day.
Now, as I friend and fan more and more people, it’s even more difficult to catch up and respond. As you mentioned, I’ve tried to start muting conversations I don’t want to follow, but that only makes a difference when looking for new replies.
I would be interested to see what methods other Plurkers are using to manage their timeline and responses.
Mike Templeton
12 Jul 08 at 8:37 am
This has been asked before, where people wish they can “fav this plurk page”. For the time being we may need to go with good old bookmarking.
plurk.com/user/janechin
12 Jul 08 at 12:29 pm
I was trying to have my plurk on my wordpress howver it won’t login and i tried to do it manually on wordpress, i dont know which widget side to have it filled in. it won’t pop up the way its supposed to.
kassy
15 Jul 08 at 11:01 pm
I am a K-12 educator and picked up Plurk just as the school year was ending. I find that there are some days when I cannot pull myself away and others when I just don’t have the energy to even get on. Issues with the “lifestream” conversations you speak of can be quite great, and they really take away from the in-depth, intellectual conversations you may be having.
Plurk seems to be one of two things – a social media micro blog where people discuss husbands, children, traffic, and food, as well as a place to exchange ideas and create a professional learning network. When I first discovered Plurk, it felt like a Twitter wanna-be without the techies. It has become an awesome resource for tapping the brains of so many professionals in whatever field you may need. Finding the happy medium between the social blog and the PLN seems to make the happiest Plurkers.
Lately it feels as though every day is a “Plurkathon,” and it is well worth it!
Theresa White
18 Jul 08 at 1:00 pm