<s>
Plurk	B-Protocol
(	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
free	O
social	O
networking	O
and	O
micro-blogging	B-Application
service	O
that	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
send	O
updates	O
(	O
otherwise	O
known	O
as	O
plurks	B-Protocol
)	O
through	O
short	O
messages	O
or	O
links	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
up	O
to	O
360	O
text	O
characters	O
in	O
length	O
(	O
as	O
of	O
2016	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Updates	O
are	O
then	O
shown	O
on	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
home	O
page	O
using	O
a	O
timeline	B-Application
,	O
which	O
lists	O
all	O
the	O
updates	O
received	O
in	O
chronological	B-Application
order	O
,	O
and	O
delivered	O
to	O
other	O
users	O
who	O
have	O
chosen	O
to	O
receive	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
unique	O
feature	O
of	O
its	O
timeline	B-Application
is	O
horizontal	O
scrolling	O
which	O
is	O
unlike	O
any	O
other	O
popular	O
social	O
networking	O
or	O
micro-blogging	B-Application
websites	O
like	O
Twitter	B-Application
or	O
Facebook	B-Application
,	O
where	O
users	O
can	O
see	O
more	O
posts	O
running	O
horizontally	O
across	O
the	O
screen	B-Device
,	O
with	O
previous	O
plurks	B-Protocol
to	O
the	O
right	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
of	O
the	O
threads	O
shows	O
timestamps	O
below	O
the	O
timeline	B-Application
frame	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
counter	O
for	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
responses	O
;	O
a	O
thread	O
can	O
have	O
as	O
many	O
as	O
300	O
to	O
a	O
thousand	O
responses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
respond	O
to	O
other	O
users	O
 '	O
updates	O
from	O
their	O
timeline	B-Application
through	O
the	O
Plurk.com	B-Protocol
website	O
,	O
by	O
private	O
or	O
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
,	O
or	O
by	O
text	O
messaging	O
via	O
compatible	O
third	O
party	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
months	O
of	O
development	O
,	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
was	O
launched	O
on	O
May	O
12	O
,	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
it	O
is	O
difficult	O
to	O
track	O
down	O
the	O
names	O
of	O
the	O
creators	O
of	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
the	O
"	O
A-Team	O
"	O
link	O
listed	O
under	O
"	O
creator	O
"	O
leads	O
to	O
a	O
page	O
that	O
lacks	O
any	O
real	O
information	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
known	O
that	O
the	O
current	O
CEO	O
is	O
Alvin	O
Woon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2013	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
announced	O
that	O
the	O
company	O
has	O
been	O
headquartered	O
in	O
Taipei	B-Application
,	O
Taiwan	O
,	O
while	O
it	O
has	O
landed	O
 [ an ] 	O
undisclosed	O
amount	O
of	O
funding.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Plurk	B-Protocol
's	O
interface	O
shows	O
updates	O
in	O
horizontal	O
form	O
through	O
a	O
scrollable	O
timeline	B-Application
written	O
in	O
JavaScript	B-Language
and	O
updated	O
through	O
AJAX	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
modify	O
the	O
interface	O
using	O
CSS	B-Language
and	O
HTML	O
scripts	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plurks	B-Protocol
can	O
also	O
be	O
'	O
liked	O
 '	O
,	O
as	O
in	O
other	O
social	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plurk	B-Protocol
also	O
supports	O
group	O
conversations	O
between	O
friends	O
and	O
allows	O
usage	O
of	O
emoticons	O
together	O
with	O
the	O
usual	O
text	O
micro-blogging	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plurk	B-Protocol
also	O
supports	O
the	O
upload	O
of	O
users	O
 '	O
own	O
pictures	O
as	O
emoticons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Plurk.com	B-Protocol
developers	O
allowed	O
public	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
API	B-General_Concept
on	O
December	O
4	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
messages	O
being	O
sent	O
between	O
users	O
in	O
near-realtime	O
,	O
many	O
users	O
use	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
as	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
chat	O
and	O
interact	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
help	O
translate	O
their	O
base	O
list	O
of	O
qualifiers/verbs	O
,	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
hosts	O
its	O
own	O
translation	O
website	O
where	O
users	O
can	O
submit	O
translations	O
of	O
the	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
in	O
other	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
July	O
2008	O
,	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
is	O
translated	O
into	O
over	O
twenty	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plurk	B-Protocol
was	O
occasionally	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
a	O
rival	O
to	O
Twitter	B-Application
,	O
an	O
earlier	O
micro-blogging	B-Application
service	O
,	O
during	O
its	O
first	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2008	O
,	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
received	O
online	O
attention	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
featured	O
by	O
Leo	O
Laporte	O
and	O
Amber	O
MacArthur	O
on	O
their	O
net	O
@night	O
show	O
in	O
the	O
TWiT.tv	O
podcast	B-Operating_System
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Observers	O
noted	O
similarity	O
between	O
the	O
MSN	O
Juku	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
and	O
that	O
of	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
was	O
blocked	O
in	O
China	O
in	O
April	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
later	O
indefinitely	O
suspended	O
MSN	O
Juku	O
,	O
admitting	O
to	O
accusations	O
that	O
MSN	O
China	O
plagiarized	O
about	O
80%	O
of	O
Plurk	B-Protocol
's	O
original	O
code	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
elements	O
of	O
their	O
CSS	B-Language
and	O
unique	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
20	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
Taiwanese	O
police	O
investigated	O
an	O
Internet	O
threat	O
posted	O
on	O
plurk.com	B-Protocol
that	O
called	O
for	O
the	O
assassination	O
of	O
the	O
President	O
of	O
the	O
Republic	O
of	O
China	O
,	O
Ma	O
Ying-jeou	O
.	O
</s>
