I joined Plurk last July while doing some social community hopping on the net. I never intended to actually be active on the site, maybe because at that time I still didn’t know how would these micro-blogging services benefit me. I was quite disappointed with Twitter, so hearing that Plurk is just another like it made me a little skeptical about using it.

When I came back to Plurk this September, I was surprised on how fast it grew in terms of members. I saw how interactive the site can be. I got hooked.

For those who haven’t heard about Plurk, it is a service hat allows you to post updates letting people know what you’re up to. You know, telling everyone you’re brushing your teeth, or eating donuts, or trying to break the world record on pizza eating whilst standing on your head.

Well, I know you must say “again, just like Twitter.” But the thing is it is not. Here’s what makes it stand out: No character restrictions. More elegant display of your “timeline”, with AJAX drag and drop capability. Pre-set emoticons and prefixes such as “was, is, will.” Still some might say that these are basic stuffs. Wait, actually there’s still more. Karma Points and Cliques.

Karma Points is a measure of how active you and your Plurk friends are on the site. The more active you use the site’s services, the more points you’ll gain. And as your Karma shoots up, more additional services will be available for you. Some might comment that why do you have to limit a user with basic features at first rather than making all the features readily available upon registering, just like Twitter. This strategy might woo away users, but for me, I really like this feature. At least, if you really want to be involved in a community, you should contribute actively. Just think of it as a reward for being an active member of the site.

Another feature that I really like is Cliques. It’s the ability to group your friends together into categories that you choose. Most sites really do this, but with Plurk, the possibilities are endless. Think of being able to send updates to very unique groups of people. Family, friends, possible investors or colleagues. You could spend an infinite amount of time shuffling your cliques based on what’s happening around you.

The only thing about Plurk is it requires your full attention, it is a site where you communicate with others in threads of conversations, whereas in Twitter it’s just a place to share things, you can work alongside with it and your tasks. But still, Plurk is a great place to spend time if you have free time (or scheduled time for Plurking), but it doesn’t seem to be designed as a service that will work with other tasks.

So, what am i choosing? I’m choosing both. For me, they aren’t the same. They’re two different services and I want to be engaged on both.

P.S. One more thing I love about Plurk is it lets me talk to myself. How? By the use of prefixes, it allows you to talk in the third person. Isn’t it just cool to talk to yourself?