Plurk Layouts, Plurk Themes, Plurk Designs

Keeping Plurk Karma on its Leash.

Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by Olivia Bell in How To.

About two months ago I wrote a similar article, The Obvious Secrets To Plurk Karma – but the reason I’m posting this now is, I’ve explained what increases your karma, but those reasons are only if you’re online, on your computer. If you’re offline for a long period of time, or away on holiday, these tips will – hopefully – help… with as little Plurking as possible…

If you haven’t read The Obvious Secrets To Plurk Karma I would suggest you read it too. There’s information in that article that is valuable and helpful. This post is pretty much, step 2.

Part of Plurk’s uniqueness is its karma system. It adds an interesting change to social networking, microblogging etc. But if you don’t know how to control your karma, keep it on its leash, then it will control you and therefore, you will be forever obsessing over your karma decrease, or occasionally increase.

Due to the amount of time I (Olivia Bell) spend on Plurk, for my own personal Plurking and also designing for this website, I have inessence cracked the code. I know exactly how to keep my karma under my control, and in this post, I’ll explain how I do that!

My Karma at the moment is:-

95.45

The last time it decreased was at the end of November (yup, it didn’t even decrease over Christmas – call me a geek, call me anything, but I’m all for “Karma Controller” )

Karma Updates:-

First of all, you need to understand when karma is updated and when it increases your karma and decreases your karma…

Plurk Karma is updated six times in 24-hours. Updates happen at approximately 12:05 am, 4:05 am, 8:05 am, 12:05 pm, 4:05 pm, and 8:05 pm (all times are Universal time). Although these do change depending on daylight saving and standard time…
If you add Karma_Trends as a friend or fan and you’ll get updates via your timeline when karma is updated – it’s also an easy way to see what time karma is updated.

Managing Karma:-

Now, although karma is updated every 4-hours, it won’t decrease your karma every 4-hours. In fact, it only decreases your karma every 12-hours. So, if you Plurk at least once within a 12-hour time frame, your karma won’t decrease and it will slowly increase.

Just to clarify that; Plurk updates every 4-hours – but it only increases karma every 4-hours. It decreases karma every 12-hours.

So, update once every 12-hours, and your karma will continue to increase. But, if you miss that time frame, your karma will decrease when karma is next updated.

If you Plurk at 8AM then you need to Plurk before the clock strikes 8PM - if you don’t, your karma will decrease.

What If I’m NOT Online?

Obviously not everybody is online all the time, or even within the 12-hour period. But, if you have a mobile, you might just be able to control your karma while you are offline… I know I have days when I won’t be online for hours and hours on-end. So, what I do is… use Plurk Mobile.

When I’m not online, I almost always have my mobile on me, at least if I’m away from the computer for more than 5-6 hours.

Plurk Mobile:-

Stop! Before you say anything…. No. I’m not suggesting you use Plurk Mobile to Plurk like you would from your computer… and anyway, if you’re offline, you normally want to enjoy your time offline and we haven’t even talked about how annoying it is Plurking from your mobile… not to mention slow!

The only way I manage Plurk Mobile is, I just Plurk – I don’t respond, nor do I read other Plurks – it’s a slow moving nightmare.

Plurk Mobile: How I Use It.

So, I’m not suggesting you Plurk via your mobile just like you do via your computer, I’m suggesting you use it to Plurk when you need to. It’s actually quite easy and means you’re back on top!

All you need to do is, open your mobile browser, point your browser to their Plurk Mobile address www.plurk.com/m – then login. Once you’ve done all that, post a Plurk. Once it’s posted, close your mobile browser, and punch the air – you’ve just cracked Plurk Karma.

What if I don’t have a Mobile?

Well, it’s not as easy to maintain your karma if you don’t have a mobile. For those who don’t have mobiles, here’s what I would do:-

Lets say you are out for the day… make sure you Plurk before you leave, you only need to Plurk once, remember.

If you’re back within the 12-hour period, great! Plurk away. If you’re not, Plurk anyway. Although your karma will decrease, it’ll only decrease once and afterwards, you’re back to increasing karma. It’s boring, it’s not ideal, but it’s the only solution there is with how karma is at the moment…

While I was on holiday for 10-days, I just made sure to Plurk as often as I could, and although my karma did decrease, at least I knew why and how to fix whatever I could.

Any Questions?

Post a comment below, email us – I’d love to hear your thoughts, and if you have any secrets… what you do!

Now What?

You've reached the end of this post. As you've made it this far, We've outlined some more extras below. Related content, bookmarking options, and ways to keep updated easily.