Blog v Wiki
The way I see wikis is that it's basically a platform for knowledge sharing and ideally that's what makes it so different and unique from anything else on the web. Even more uniquely, it allows multiple people to instantly consume, edit and collaborate on really any topic that's out there.
That being said, a blog post on the other hand functions a little bit differently. Unlike the collaboration aspect of a wiki, a blog post is generally authored by only one or a few contributors. In other words the communication of a blog post is one-to-many content as opposed to a wiki article being many-to-many communication. With just that factor alone it changes the way a user perceives information between the two sources. For example, users viewing a blog post will just consume the information and leave comments on it; as opposed to a user viewing a wiki article, sharing their own thoughts on it, and having the impact be directly in the article/document itself.
Though there are many disparities between wikis and blogs, they are similar in that they both are web based solutions that allow the everyday user to obtain and post information which requires minimal-to-no technical effort to post/view (e.g. coding languages). Last - I know I mentioned that wikis really stress upon a collaborative platform, more-so then blogs, however blogs can still be useful as a forum for group projects, and can potentially act as a collaborative authoring tool for students to develop and present their group assignment or project.
Nonetheless, in addition to the usability streams like wiki and blogs there are tons out there (e.g. browsers, search engine, e-commerce, advertising, etc) that are impacting and rethinking the way consumers are applying media within their everyday life. With the convergence in today's networked world it has literally created a divide between old and new media where news can now be traveled instantly, photos can go viral in seconds, and wars can be started without face to face interaction (e.g. Egyptian Revolution '11). Technical innovations will continue to blossom and promulgate as the years go on and our current "new" media may not be so "new" after-all.
PS - I think an interesting wiki portal that could and most probably will be created within the next 24 months or so is a wiki portal solely meant for all things Virtual and Augmented Reality. With the uprise in this industry and the lack of centralized collaboration for jargon and content around this category, I certainly see a wiki area that will prosper and grow (rapidly).
Sources:
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on making the most of company wikis. A Conversation with Jimmy Wales by Gardiner Morse. Harvard Business Review, April 2008.
How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere? by Kathy E. Gill. Workshop on the Weblogging Ecosystem, May 2004. available from:http://faculty.washington.edu/kegill/pub/www2004_blogosphere_gill.pdf
That being said, a blog post on the other hand functions a little bit differently. Unlike the collaboration aspect of a wiki, a blog post is generally authored by only one or a few contributors. In other words the communication of a blog post is one-to-many content as opposed to a wiki article being many-to-many communication. With just that factor alone it changes the way a user perceives information between the two sources. For example, users viewing a blog post will just consume the information and leave comments on it; as opposed to a user viewing a wiki article, sharing their own thoughts on it, and having the impact be directly in the article/document itself.
Though there are many disparities between wikis and blogs, they are similar in that they both are web based solutions that allow the everyday user to obtain and post information which requires minimal-to-no technical effort to post/view (e.g. coding languages). Last - I know I mentioned that wikis really stress upon a collaborative platform, more-so then blogs, however blogs can still be useful as a forum for group projects, and can potentially act as a collaborative authoring tool for students to develop and present their group assignment or project.
Nonetheless, in addition to the usability streams like wiki and blogs there are tons out there (e.g. browsers, search engine, e-commerce, advertising, etc) that are impacting and rethinking the way consumers are applying media within their everyday life. With the convergence in today's networked world it has literally created a divide between old and new media where news can now be traveled instantly, photos can go viral in seconds, and wars can be started without face to face interaction (e.g. Egyptian Revolution '11). Technical innovations will continue to blossom and promulgate as the years go on and our current "new" media may not be so "new" after-all.
PS - I think an interesting wiki portal that could and most probably will be created within the next 24 months or so is a wiki portal solely meant for all things Virtual and Augmented Reality. With the uprise in this industry and the lack of centralized collaboration for jargon and content around this category, I certainly see a wiki area that will prosper and grow (rapidly).
Sources:
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on making the most of company wikis. A Conversation with Jimmy Wales by Gardiner Morse. Harvard Business Review, April 2008.
How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere? by Kathy E. Gill. Workshop on the Weblogging Ecosystem, May 2004. available from:http://faculty.washington.edu/kegill/pub/www2004_blogosphere_gill.pdf
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