Plurk’s karma system is just one of the things that differentiates it from Twitter, and I like to think in a good way.

I’m a huge fan of Plurk [my profile], but I’ve been thinking, that the karma system is definitely a mixed blessing.

The Good

The quest for higher karma creates active users, that Plurk often and respond to other users. This creates a great community, with always something being said.

Karma gives you an attainable goal. Increasing your karma is something you can work towards, and track your success. You know when you’re an important part of Plurk, because you can see it.

Because the Algorithm is unknown, karma is something that just happens. It just being called karma makes Plurk users just want to be nice to each other.

The Bad

Along with active users trying to be a part of Plurk, comes Karma whores. Although, this isn’t necessarily bad, it can lead to spam Plurks or Plurking just for the sake of Plurking. (Yes I know, I can be guilty of this sometimes)

Karma changes can be demoralizing. When you don’t see your Karma value go up as much as you’d like, or if you see it go down, it can be pretty disheartening.

People are afraid of adding friends because it might effect their karma. Also, since we aren’t entirely sure how we’re affected by our friend’s karma, people don’t actually add their friends, but instead try to add people that are extremely active and have high karma.

Conclusion

I really do think that Plurk’s karma system creates incentives for good and bad.

In the end however, I think that it comes down to the actual user, and how invested they are in karma. If more people begin to Plurk only for karma, Plurk’s karma whores may be the end of Plurk.