The rage (and I mean RAGE) of the week has been the new microblogging site to hit town, Plurk. It’s a fun, ajax-filled, timelined conversational network that gives users the feeling of freedom with what they talk about and share with their friends; did I mention that they have weird creatures as their logo?

Some have deemed it a Twitter killer, while others feel it’s just too over the top. I’ve been actively utilizing it this past week and have admittedly become addicted. Addicted, yes. A convert, not just quite yet. I won’t get too in-depth with the inner workings of the site as ReadWriteWeb has posted a great review of the service, but I do have some thoughts on how Plurk could create a system overload for some.

Real-Time Updates

Plurk gives real-time updates on your profile page that shows new ‘plurks’ or responses from your friends list. A cool feature as you’re kept up-to-date on the conversations going on but has become overwhelming. This aspect of Plurk has almost forced me into rehab. It creates a constant urge to check, update, view all, mark all as read, etc.; it’s seriously like a drug. The feature makes using the site very time consuming. Although, it’s all contingent upon the number of friends that you have and how often they’re plurking (yes, I giggled when I first said it too), but it vastly shows the difference between Twitter and Plurk. Twitter can give you constant updates through Twhirl or other apps as well, but there was never a sense of urgency to check updates every single minute. Plurk creates this need to continually update all responses and plurks, which becomes very chaotic to those with larger networks. I’m by no means captain popular but even with over 80 friends, the time needed to truly stay up-to-date with my network’s conversations becomes too much.

Conversations

The conversations are constant and aplenty on Plurk. It’s been noted by Mack Collier that he receives more replies on his Plurks than his Tweets. This is very true as grouped conversations help with the constant flow of dialogue. You can easily receive over 30 responses to a plurk, smileys and all, but sometimes those responses can get sidetracked because of that easy-going fun feeling that Plurk has masterfully incorporated into their site and users. With the upside of grouped conversations comes the latter - not only are you keeping up with new plurks but also the responses on your own plurks as well as the plurks you’ve plurked on; ok ok, you get the picture.

The main difference in conversations between Twitter and Plurk is as simple as this; Twitter is the conference and Plurk is the party (OH on Plurk). That simple analogy sums up the user experiences between both services. It’s all a matter of what type of network best benefits you, just don’t expect a Twitter replacement.

Expectations

I spoke with a friend of mine who is on Twitter and Plurk. She’s not a social media marketer but an awesome graphic designer (shameless plug). Regardless, she gave some awesome feedback on Plurk, how she uses it and people’s expectations of the service:

To me its just like a chat room with friends that you can come back to whenever you have time…it’s like aim except you’re allowed to ignore their messages for a few hours without them getting offended.

I don’t use it for information; it’s for fun and sharing fun things…like cats cuddling with stuffed animals. (lol)

The updates are annoying, that’s why its best used with friends you know and communicate with a lot.

On Twitter v. Plurk:

Twitters for meeting new people where Plurk is kind of for existing friends.

I think Twitterers went there expecting it to be like Twitter but maybe it’s not supposed to be. You can’t have ‘3498374′ friends and be sane.

Twitter is selective informational reading.

She provided great insight from the perspective of a Twitter and Plurk user. It’s meant to be a fun site and that’s what it is. It’s free flowing, relaxed and yes, flirty. The more I understand Plurk, the more I realize that the Plurk Rule Book is spot on. We all can’t utilize it with our large networks from other sites and expect to continue to have a fun user experience.

Twitterer’s expectations may fall short if they’re looking for a similar experience. Plurk would probably agree with Mack’s recent tweet as well:

The idea of Twitter users not being Plurk’s target market is right in more ways than mentioned above and one of the main reasons why Plurk is not a Twitter killer. Is Plurk taking a piece of Twitter’s market right now? Sure. How long that will last is the better question and contingent upon the convergence to Plurk and of course, Twitter’s up (down) time.

System Cool-Down

I’ve learned a great deal through my early-adoption of Plurk as well as writing about my experience. Will I cut back the number of ‘friends’ I follow? Probably not. What I will do is not expect to keep up with every single conversation that is being updated on my timeline. We all have our obligations as Social Media Marketers and find the need for balance in the networks we frequent. If not used in the manner it’s meant, Plurk can tip that balancing act to the point of overload. The conversations are definitely fun, more intimate and have allowed me to get to know a lot more people in a short amount of time; but either I utilize the service how it’s meant to be utilized or I sit back, relax a bit and not get caught up in the hoopla and balance my online networking to where I see fit and where I feel provides the best value.

Feel free to follow me on both Twitter and Plurk.

Are you suffering from chronic Plurk overload? Please share your stories!