Plurk

= Communication Tool: Plurk = Group Members: Joseph Donnelly and Sarah Beck


 * Screenshot or logo**

Brief introduction of the tool
Plurk is a social-networking tool that allows the users to send updates to their "friends" or people subscribed to view their profile. The updates are organized on a timeline that flows from right to left. Plurk allows the user to group friends into cliques, allowing people to send plurks (messages or updates) to a specific group.

Plurk can be used by either the Internet or by mobile device, making Plurk easily accessible on-the-go, which makes it efficient. It is also efficient in that it takes little time to update or to add a plurk. Plurk is effective in its mission to be a "fun" social networking tool as it incorporates dancing emotions in its plurks, it introduces a new vocabulary, and it creates a game-like motivation system with the use of increasing/decreasing karma points with the use of the site. This karma point system adds to the enhancement of the experience as well.
 * ===//Advantages of the tool//===

Some limitations to Plurk are updates are limited to 140 text characters, meaning shorter messages. Plurk makes finding friends on the site somewhat difficult. To search for friends you need more than just a name, you also need their email address, and that email address needs to be stored in your contact book from your email server.
 * ===//Disadvantages (limitations) of the tool//===

Application of the tool in your subject area
Application of Plurk in school would be to have students register on Plurk. From there, a teacher could organize those students into cliques, allowing the teacher to send Plurks about subject matter or anything school related to his or her students outside of the classroom. This also allows students to pose questions for the teacher outside of the classroom, say, while working on homework or projects. Also, teachers can use this tool to present students with a deadline outside of class to keep them on track with larger projects, or larger reading assignments (similar to a checkpoint system).

Find a tutorial on YouTube
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//List of key features showed in the YouTube video://
The video highlights the basics of plurk for users that may be new to the website. In this tutorial, we are taken through the different elements of plurk, and how karma works in plurk.

Useful Resources
To begin gaining knowledge, wikipedia is a great place to start. [] includes a basic description of plurk and the history of where it came from.

As many of our classmates belong to a social network to begin with, [|http://www.facebook.com/pages/Plurk/14892394444#!/pages/Plurk/14892394444?v=wall] would be a great place to find information about plurk. Even in they are not members, they can access this page, and the format will be familiar. On this page, users discuss plurk, its advantages, disadvantages, and layout. There are also pictures.

[] An in depth analysis of what Plurk is. This website tells some history of Plurk and teaches you have to utilize all that Plurk has to offer.