I’ve started playing with Plurk today and think I like it a bit better than Twitter. I don’t get the whole Karma thing though. What’s that all about?
I actually got this question by MSN from a buddy I introduced to Plurk. I had actually also introduced him to Twitter, but he seemed to have less problems getting his head around that. Actually Plurk seems to have greater depth than Twitter, but that carries with it a cost, the cost of understanding and using all those new features, one of which it Karma.
First of all, what is Karma? Karma is a system of points given to each user based on how much they use Plurk, how much time they spend using it, and other factors. Here’s the definition on the website as to the different levels of Karma you may have:
Every plurker has his/her own karma value. It is recalculated every day and can be within these intervals:
- 0.00 to 21.00: You are in the state of creation
- 21.00 to 41.00: You are in the state of maintenance
- 41.00 to 61.00: You are enlightened
- 61.00 to 81.00: You are so close to Plurk Nirvana
- 81.00 to 100.00: You have reached Plurk Nirvana!
Obviously, the more Karma, the better. More Karma gives you more emoticons you can use in your Plurks, but also shows that you’re supercool and should be the envy of all your friends.
So, how should you go about increasing your Karma. Again, the answer comes from the website:
Some tips on getting more karma:
- Updating your profile (picture, location, birth day etc.) will gain your more karma
- Quality plurking each day
- Responses from other plurkers will gain you karma.
- Inviting your real friends will boost your karma
What will lower your karma:
- Karma will be lowered if you request friendship and get rejected
- Getting unfollowed by friends will lower your karma
- Spamming other users will lower your karma
- Inactivity for a long period will decrease your karma
All it takes is to spend some time on Plurk whenever something interesting happens to you and let all your friends know about it. So, if you’ve found a kitten on your lunch break, booked your holiday and got one of those great hotel deals or even just changed your socks, pop onto Plurk and let everyone know.
Sounds cool? Well, if you’re not on Plurk yet, you can find me and sign up here
I joined today too and I’m still trying to get the hang of the timeline interface…
Plurk is awesome & addicting. It’s easy to get karma by starting conversations and replying to them too. And the more responses you get to your plurks gets you karma points too. To me plurk is fun because it’s about the art of conversation. Plurk something that gets the interest of others. Maybe you can ask an open ended question or have a plurk party. Have fun!
@gemma: It takes time, but once you get used to it, it’s quite effective.