It's a word you may have heard thrown around in Second Life blogs or in casual conversations, but for those who haven't checked out the latest trend in social networking a reference to Plurk is vague and confusing. While the site is not directly related to the metaverse, it has become a valuable tool for sharing in-world news, updating friends about current activities and sharing great shopping finds. It also facilitates connections between individuals who never would've crossed paths in-world.

So, what is Plurk? As Ahcapella Caldwell said shortly after being introduced to the site, "If a timeline, Facebook and MySpace had an orgy and a lovechild was born, it would be Plurk." Like Facebook and MySpace, Plurk creates a social journal accessible by either the entire world or by friends only according to your preferences. To make things a bit different, Plurks are shorter and placed on a timeline. They're written in third person like Second Life's emoting: /me wants to buy this pair of shoes. However, the third person is already set up, eliminating the need to use "/me."

An additional addictive property of Plurk is the Karma feature. Karma is earned in a variety of ways. Setting up your profile with a picture and fixing your location (Plurk automatically adds your location based on your IP address so be sure to hide this if you don't want your real life home to be known) will increase your Karma at the next update. Consistent quality Plurking will increase your Karma as well. Each friend you invite to use Plurk will improve your score. Be careful though, Karma can also be lost. Spamming Plurk can cause your friends and fans to stop following your timeline which can drop your Karma. Failing to update your timeline will drop your score as well.

Karma has a purpose other than looking pretty. As your Karma increases, you are granted special privileges. The first is the opportunity to title your timeline. Eventually, you gain access to custom emoticons, the ability to change your user name and the right to upload pictures directly to Plurk.

Karma is just an added plus to Plurk, however. The real benefits are the friendships gained and opportunities created, not to mention the silly record of life and Second Life retained by date and time. It's the opportunity to stay in touch when we can't be in-world. The humor and sharing create stronger bonds. Dive on in to Plurk and add a new dimension to your Second Life.