Blogs and wikis are similar, but still different. Similarly, they both allow people to express their ideas and share information. A main difference between blogs and wikis is the author (or authors). A blog is usually created and operated by an individual or an organization. Other people cannot edit a blog. Instead, they can only read the material contained in the blog and then comment on it. However, a wiki allows users to edit it as they please. For example, I may start a wiki and open it to the public, and then anyone could edit my wiki. This blog is open to the public, but users cannot edit my posts at all; they could only comment on them.
In order for society to grow and become more “developed” as time goes on, people need to collaborate and toss around ideas until something is improved upon. The main benefit of a wiki as opposed to a blog is the high level of convergence, because wikis allow people to collaborate over a network. Wikis are updated in real time, so they are a great way for companies and such to share information with one another in a quick and easy manner. For instance, Tony Pagliarulo a VP for technology vendor EMC used a wiki for this exact reason. He and his team were building a knowledge management system and needed a way to organize all of the key information for their project in one place. So, they used a wiki to create, edit, and comment on online documents and were able to finish the project very quickly (Here’s how to get started by Margaret Locher. CIO, May 1, 2008. Vol. 21, Iss. 14. Available at: http://www.cio.com/article/336818/More_on_How_to_Build_Your_Own_Wikipedia).
Although wikis are great for collaboration, because they allow users to edit and save the same document, blogs are great for collaboration as well. People could share their ideas with the world by blogging and the world could share their ideas with the blogger. Information is passed from user to user. For example, according to journalist Michael Wilson, a blog was used by Brooklyn residents to help close down a crack house. Basically, the bloggers were all active on a blog for people living in their neighborhood. Some people started to blog about a crack house and others reacted by expressing their ideas about the same house. People continuously shared helpful information about the dangers of this house and eventually, the bloggers collaborated to file police reports and attend community meetings, which lead to a police investigation. (Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid By MICHAEL WILSON The New York Times June 26, 2008 available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/nyregion/26bayridge.html).
Wikis have been used for collaborative efforts in numerous ways. However, one original idea of how to use a wiki would be an “Invention Wiki”. Basically, people with no money, but great ideas could post ideas for an invention they would like to create, along with an image of a prototype, etc. They know that this information is public, and someone else may manufacture and sell their invention, but they don’t care, because they are happy enough to see it created. People could edit the wiki with additional prototype images, mechanical ideas, etc.
robertcarute 