Blogs v.s Wikis

In this new “plugged in” world, jargon such as “wiki” and “blog” are no longer unique to techs. But what exactly do these terms used so frequently mean? Well, both blogs and wikis offer a plethora of information at the click of a button. The topics cover a wide range of subjects, from hobbies to professions, interests to obsessions. However, they are not exactly the same. For the most part, blogs or web logs are created and maintained by one individual. One blog will have regular entries all pertaining to its main topic. The information on the blog can be factual but is mostly the opinion of the author. A wiki is an encyclopedia of sorts. A topic is chosen and all the information on the wiki is about that topic. However, it may have many different contributors. Anyone can be an editor on a wiki page or create one without any particular knowledge. All the information on a wiki is meant to be factual- but it can sometimes be opinionated we are human. Wikis do not have regular entries, but as new information about the topic is discovered it will be updated accordingly. Blogs and wikis both enable communication from multiple people and have a platform for feedback. Blogs use comments, and wikis use editor for feedback. Blogs can be filtered, as opposed to wikis where anyone can say anything. Convergence is very important in today’s networked world. Most internet pages have links to other web pages. Now people in two different countries can interact with each other easily. New developments and new information is shared on the internet everyday at every moment. .  Convergence is very important in the world we live in today just look at the example of “Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid” by Michael Wilson where neighbors communicated with each other to end a drug raid. This is also a proven way blogs can be used to collaborate. Blogs can be used for collaboration by creating a link between the blogs that share the same interest. If there is a task at hand, such as raising money for a charity, then a collaboration of businesses using a blog can help exponentially. Blogs can also spread information quickly. If collaboration happens using a blog, then it will be more effective than other media such as mass emailing. According to Melissa Gerry “blogs have become more popular and it was estimated that more than 7% of Internet users had created a blog and more than 30 million people look at them on a regular basis”.

   A new use for wikis I would like to see is a media wiki like where different people edit a movie; I think that would be interesting.