Plurk

After months of development, Plurk was launched on 12 May 2008.{{cite web|date=2008-05-20|access-date=2008-07-23|url=http://blog.plurk.com/2008/05/20/das-leben-der-anderen-a-window-into-the-lives-of-others/|title=das leben der anderen - a window into the lives of others.|author=akan|publisher=Plurk Inc.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719135327/http://blog.plurk.com/2008/05/20/das-leben-der-anderen-a-window-into-the-lives-of-others/|archive-date=2008-07-19}}

The etymology of the name was explained by the developers as such:{{cite web|date=2008-06-02|access-date=2008-07-23|url=http://blog.plurk.com/2008/06/02/why-plurk-an-etymological-deconstruction-of-the-word-you-love-to-hate/|title='Plurk'? An etymological deconstruction of the word you love to hate|author=akan|publisher=Plurk Inc.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620070834/http://blog.plurk.com/2008/06/02/why-plurk-an-etymological-deconstruction-of-the-word-you-love-to-hate/|archive-date=2008-06-20}}

• abbreviation of 'people' and 'lurk'
• portmanteau of 'play' and 'work'
• acronym of peace, love, unity, respect, and karma
• verb neologism, similar to how Google was eventually used as a verb

While it is difficult to track down the names of the creators of Plurk, and the "A-Team" link listed under "creator" leads to a page that lacks any real information, it is known that the current CEO is Alvin Woon. In January 2013, it was announced that the company has been headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, while it has "landed [an] undisclosed amount of funding."{{cite web|date=2013-01-23|access-date=2013-03-20|url=https://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/01/28/plurk-investment-deal/|title=One-time Twitter rival Plurk lands million-dollar investment and relocates to Asia|author=Jon Russell|publisher=The Next Web, Inc.}}

Plurk's interface shows updates in horizontal form through a scrollable timeline written in JavaScript and updated through AJAX. Users can modify the interface using CSS and HTML scripts as well. Users can post new messages with optional 'qualifiers', which are one-word verbs used to represent a thought (e.g., 'feels', 'thinks', 'loves', etc.). There are also advanced features such as sending updates only to a subset of your friends, posting updates on events earlier in the day, and sharing images, videos, and other media.{{cite web|url=https://www.plurk.com/faq|title=FAQ|author=Plurk.com|publisher=Plurk, Inc.}} Followers are allowed{{clarify|date=April 2016}}, but only limited to accounts that are not set as private. Users can upload media files through YouTube, links and webcam or from their computer. Plurks can also be 'liked', as in other social sites. In addition, it has a birthday reminder feature that places a birthday cake sign on all the user's messages on his/her birthday. Every plurker has his/her own Karma value. It is recalculated based on your activities. Higher Karma gives access to more emoticons and features.{{Cite web |title=Plurk - FAQ - Plurk |url=https://www.plurk.com/help/en/plurk#what-will-change-my-karma |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.plurk.com |language=en}}

Plurk also supports group conversations between friends and allows usage of emoticons together with the usual text micro-blogging.{{cite web|access-date=2008-09-20|url=http://www.techpluto.com/plurk-over-twitter/|title=Why Plurking is more fun than tweeting|author=Prashant Sharma|publisher=TechPluto}} Plurk also supports the upload of users' own pictures as emoticons.

The Plurk.com developers allowed public access to the API on December 4, 2009.{{cite web|date=2009-12-04|url=http://blog.plurk.com/2009/12/04/plurk-api-service/|title=Plurk API Service|author=alvin|publisher=Plurk.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723044332/http://en.blog.plurk.com/2009/12/04/plurk-api-service/|archive-date=2012-07-23}}

Due to messages being sent between users in near-realtime, many users use Plurk as an alternative to chat and interact with each other.

To help translate their base list of qualifiers/verbs, Plurk hosts its own translation website where users can submit translations of the Plurk user interface in other languages.{{cite web|date=2008-06-28|access-date=2008-07-23|url=http://blog.plurk.com/2008/06/28/introducing-the-plurk-collaborative-translation-project/|title=Introducing the Plurk Collaborative Translation Project - Help Us Bring Plurk to your Language|author=akan|publisher=Plurk Inc.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722180218/http://blog.plurk.com/2008/06/28/introducing-the-plurk-collaborative-translation-project/|archive-date=2008-07-22}} As of July 2008, Plurk is translated into over twenty languages.

Plurk was occasionally referred to as a rival to Twitter, an earlier micro-blogging service, during its first year.{{cite web|date=2008-06-23|access-date=2008-07-23|url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2321480,00.asp|title=Plurk.com - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine|author=Michael Muchmore|publisher=Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.}}{{cite web|date=2008-06-03|access-date=2008-07-23|url=http://www.techleader.co.za/stii/2008/06/03/plurk-the-new-twitter/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912035353/http://www.techleader.co.za/stii/2008/06/03/plurk-the-new-twitter|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-09-12|title=Plurk, the new Twitter?|author=Stii Pretorius|publisher=Mail & Guardian Online}}

In June 2008, Plurk received online attention when it was featured by Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur on their net@night show in the TWiT.tv podcast network.{{cite web|date=2008-06-04|access-date=2008-07-24|url=http://twit.tv/natn55|title=net@night 55: Tiffany Roll|author=Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte|publisher=TwiT.tv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906001910/http://twit.tv/natn55|archive-date=2008-09-06|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|date=2008-06-02|access-date=2008-07-23|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9957487-2.html?tag=bl|title=Plurk: Like Twitter, in good and bad ways|author=Rafe Needleman|publisher=CNET Networks, Inc.|quote=An influx of users over the weekend (which is being blamed on or credited to Leo Laporte) has apparently overloaded the system, and occasionally users may find elements of it not working.}}

{{Main|MSN China#MSN Juku}}

In November 2009, MSN China launched an Internet application called MSN Juku in beta. Observers noted similarity between the MSN Juku user interface and that of Plurk,{{cite news |title= Microsoft unveils Twitter clone called MSN Juku

|url= http://www.tweaktown.com/news/13661/microsoft_unveils_twitter_clone_called_msn_juku/ |publisher= TweakTown |last= McGlaun |first= Shaun |date= 2009-12-01 |access-date= 2009-12-14 }} which was blocked in China in April 2009. Microsoft later indefinitely suspended MSN Juku, admitting to accusations that MSN China plagiarised about 80% of Plurk's original code, as well as elements of their CSS and unique user interface features.{{cite web |url= http://blog.plurk.com/2009/12/14/microsoft-rips-plurk/ |title= Microsoft China rips off Asia's No. 1 Microblogging Service |publisher= Plurk Labs Official Blog |date= 2009-12-14 |access-date= 2009-12-14 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120723044316/http://en.blog.plurk.com/2009/12/14/microsoft-rips-plurk/ |archive-date= 2012-07-23 }}{{cite news |title= Start-up claims Microsoft China took its code |url= http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10414963-56.html |date= 2009-12-14 |access-date= 2009-12-14 }}

On 20 March 2010, Taiwanese police investigated an Internet threat posted on plurk.com that called for the assassination of the President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou.{{cite web|date=2009-03-21|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2010/03/21/2003468547|title=Plurk User Calls for Assassination of Taiwan President|publisher=taipeitimes.com}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Official website|name=Plurk.com homepage}}

{{Commons category|Plurk}}

{{Microblogging}}

Category:Taiwanese social networking websites

Category:Blog hosting services