When we received the wonders of Plurk, we also received the perils and rigors of Karma. I have mixed feelings about this “feature.” The main intent of Karma, of course, is to have you bring your friends flocking to Plurk, and to keep you using the service 24 hours a day. This means, if nothing else, that the Karma battles are won by the most brazen and those with not much else to do.

There are roughly 1.872 million opinions about Karma, which shows that they are all over the board, and that Plurkers are a wildly varied lot. Here are a few quotes from my friend group:

• 1only: hates that karma goes down when you can’t be on for a day.
• dotlizard: thinks right now it rewards people who just spew out many worthless plurks. also, thinks replying is nicer than plurking
• that girl over there: agrees with dotlizard - karma should increment more for replies than for regular plurks.
• NotAMeanGirl: I like it. It’s not really pressure but its something to shoot for. Rewards for being social… Hells yeah!
• bloggersblog: thinks how long you have been on plurk should have something to do with it (not just activity)
• zaibatsu: thinks he better post something, or he’s gonna lose the karma. And we all know it can be a bitch if you don’t feed it!
• theGypsy: says screw the karma… just chat, exchange and enjoy.
• CantonDog: thinks that karma is a novelty now but will probably wear off eventually unless they do something to change how it works.

I agree with theGypsy. And I am also aware that they are indeed about to change the way Karma works. I really hope that they do a good job of it.

I plurk for the fun of it, just to be able to have conversations with people thatI enjoy from all over the world. That is the way cool thing about Plurk. Sure, you are going to accumulate some Karma along the way, but it’s not the most important thing for me. In fact, from my point of view, Karma is the only chink in the wonder that is Plurk.

Karma alone, of all Plurk features, has been designed for the benefit of Plurk first, and for the Plurk user second. The emphasis is on recruiting more members. Yes, we think Plurk is great, but we don’t want to pimp for it. We have told all of our friends and hope they come. At the same time, we don’t feel a need, or even right about, benefitting from them if they join. We get here as much as we can. It is insulting to balance the Karma formula in favor of those few that don’t seem to have lives outside Plurk. We come, and we Plurk, whenever we can. We should not be punished for having non-virtual lives.

Plurk is good enough that the Plurk A-Team does not have to bribe members to pester their friends to appear, or to ignore their children to be here. This is yet another time I am forced to look at the numbers leaders as people that I have no desire to emulate. I like my life. I like Plurk. I am able to achieve a balance. Plurk seems to be saying that is not good enough for them.

That’s easy enough for me. I just ignore my Karma. I am aware that it went over forty, but that’s about the last time I paid any attention to it. At the very least, the word “Karma” was poorly chosen. One does not seek actively to increase Karma. Instead, one seeks balance in all things and lets Karma take care of itself.

That’s what I do. I’m KDFrawg on Plurk. Stop by and say “Hi.”