That tantalizing title deserves a bit of an explanation. Twitter and Plurk are two social networking (or micro-blogging) sites that offer users the (free) opportunity to post real-time updates, quotes, feelings, status changes, or pretty much whatever they'd like as long as it fits into a relatively short message (140 characters). If you're familiar with texting, it's like sending a mass text out to all the contacts in your phone book.
I was a late entrant to the micro-blogging craze because I really didn't understand the point. Now I'm hooked and here's why:
- --I get the rare opportunity to be impulsive! Most of my life is fairly well-planned and thought out. It's nice to have a place where my writing/expression doesn't have such a permanent feel.
- --New networks: My contacts on these sites include different professional and personal backgrounds than my usual cliques of people that usually fall into one common interest group (disability advocacy, digital arts, psychology, etc.) It brings everyone together and I've expanded to connect with different professions too.
- --Keep it short! I'm such a rambler that the length limit has helped me sum it up already!
- --Conversations from afar: It took me awhile to figure out but both sites offer options to reply to other's posts or ask a question and receive your own answers (sometimes in only a few seconds).
- --Get social! Once I understood the interactive part of Twitter and Plurk, I realized I needed to find some friends! Here's where I branched out and found some people with unique but common interests, sent some requests to follow/friend/fan (depending on the site) and my network was born!
And finally...my favorite thing about micro-blogging has been its potential to draw people to my blog posts/articles and receive almost immediate feedback. Plurk, especially, has allowed me to spread the news the MINUTE I post my newest blog and it's fun/interesting hearing from people that aren't directly invested in the circle of people with disabilities what they think about our issues.
I don't have any hard core arguments in the battle between Plurk and Twitter. Plurk is more graphic with its timeline feature (which amuses me but bugs others). Twitter is WAY more popular, has been around longer, and you can update easier from your mobile phone. Some complain that Twitter experiences too much downtime. I only post a few times a day though so it hasn't put a serious damper on my twittering style. Lately, I've been using Plurk more because it offers this incentive program where the more plurks, responses, friends, etc. you make, the higher your "karma" score goes up. With more karma, you can use different emoticons and personalize your profile. (Sounds ridiculous right!?!) I guess my increased participation proves we all enjoy rewards (no matter how trivial) at any age!
The true fun can't really begin on either of these sites until you have at least one friend so if you'd like to get started, feel free to add me!
Here's my Plurk page: (Click on the button below that says "Plurk your life on the line")
And my Twitter page: (Click on the button below that says "Twitter Just Do it!"
Happy twittering and plurking!
