 | |
 The website'stimeline set in horizontal fashion | |
Type of site | Social network service andMicroblogging |
|---|---|
| Available in | Multilingual (45 languages)[1] |
| Headquarters | , |
| Owner | Plurk, Inc. |
| Created by | The A-team[2] |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
| Launched | 12 May 2008; 17 years ago (2008-05-12)[3] |
| Current status | Active |
| Plurk | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
Screenshot .jpg) Plurk's mobile application on iOS | |||||
| Initial release | 31 October 2013; 12 years ago (2013-10-31) | ||||
| Stable release(s)[±] | |||||
| |||||
| Operating system | Web,iOS,Android | ||||
| Size | 83MB | ||||
| Type | Social media service | ||||
| Website | www | ||||
Plurk (/ˈplɜːrk/ ⓘ) is a freesocial networking andmicroblogging service that allows users to send updates (otherwise known asplurks) through short messages or links, which can be up to 360 text characters in length (as of 2016[update]).[6][7]
Updates are then shown on the user's home page using atimeline, which lists all the updates received inchronological order, and delivered to other users who have chosen to receive them. A unique feature of its timeline ishorizontal scrolling[8][6] which is unlike any other popular social networking or microblogging websites[9] likeTwitter orFacebook, where users can see moreposts running horizontally across thescreen, with previous plurks to the right. Each of thethreads showstimestamps below the timeline frame, and a counter for the number of responses; a thread can have as many as 300 to a thousand responses.[10] Users can respond to other users' updates from their timeline through the Plurk.com website, officialmobile apps, by private orinstant messaging, or bytext messaging via compatible third party applications. Also unique to the site is the ability to post anonymous plurks using the "whisper" qualifier, affording users the ability to hide theirusername or identity.[11][12]
After months of development, Plurk was launched on 12 May 2008.[13]
The etymology of the name was explained by the developers as such:[14]
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.[6] In January 2013, it was announced that the company has been headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, while it has "landed [an] undisclosed amount of funding."[15]
Plurk's interface shows updates in horizontal form through a scrollable timeline written inJavaScript and updated throughAJAX. 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.[16] Followers are allowed[clarification needed], 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.[17]
Plurk also supports group conversations between friends and allows usage of emoticons together with the usual text micro-blogging.[18] Plurk also supports the upload of users' own pictures as emoticons.
The Plurk.com developers allowed public access to theAPI on December 4, 2009.[19]
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.[20] As of July 2008[update], Plurk is translated into over twenty languages.
Plurk was occasionally referred to as a rival toTwitter, an earlier micro-blogging service, during its first year.[21][22]
In June 2008, Plurk received online attention when it was featured byLeo Laporte andAmber MacArthur on their net@night show in theTWiT.tvpodcast network.[23][24]
In November 2009, MSN China launched an Internet application called MSN Juku inbeta. Observers noted similarity between the MSN Jukuuser interface and that of Plurk,[25] which wasblocked 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 theirCSS and unique user interface features.[26][27]
On 20 March 2010, Taiwanese police investigated anInternet threat posted on plurk.com that called for the assassination of the President of theRepublic of China,Ma Ying-jeou.[28]
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.
