This column is once again inspired by events. What the heck would we do without events? This time, it was a comment on yesterday’s column by Douglas Karr, a respected internet marketing maven. He is not sure yet about Plurk, because of the lack of a standalone client and integration to other social media sites. From a purely marketing point of view, I understand the concern that Douglas states. If your interest is primarily marketing, your concerns are going to be desktop real estate, linear access, and efficiency.

None of those things hold a great deal of interest to me in relation to Plurk, although they do in my day-to-day business life. I program and design, so I would always give a lot for more screen real estate. I communicate primarily by email and telephone, so I understand linear access. I always want to produce more in less time in my work life, so efficiency is a big deal to me.

When I go to Plurk, I go there without much of a business agenda. I’m there for fun, although I always enjoy a good conversation about technology or social media, as examples. I don’t multitask much at Plurk, except trying to keep up with 200 or so pieces of conversation per hour. Sure, I may IM a little, which is starting to feel like an extension of Plurk. I may answer an email or the phone, but usually not. Plurk is my time off.

So, while I understand where Douglas is coming from, I also know that I am coming from a different place. When I go to Plurk, I am prepared to invest X amount of time in it. When that time is up, I go back to work. Where I might previously have played a game in that time, or done something else of a recreational nature, I now Plurk. That’s how much I like it. It is an excellent place for social interaction.

I have a feeling that the Plurk clients, as they begin to appear and mature, are going to look a lot like Twitter. And I don’t care if Plurk is connected to other social media or not, because I see Plurk as being essentially different from other social media. I think that Twitter will survive for all those people that are very busy all day selling something. I also think that those same people may want some relaxation sometime, and maybe want to drop by Plurk for that.

If they want to drop by Plurk mainly to sell something, I will notice that, of course, and I will mute most of those conversations, and I will stop following “friends” that are just there to sell. I fully expect the marketing people to reciprocate, because I’m not buyingn and they are not interested in just conversation. That way, they and I can exist simultaneously within the Plurk framework, rarely even seeing each other, That is another beauty of Plurk.

I am KDFrawg on Plurk. Stop by and say hi, unless you want to sell me something.