Blogs VS. Wikis

In my opinion, blogs and wikis are similar in many ways but the biggest difference between the two is that in blogs, information is added onto each other one at a time while wikis allow users to simultaneously create and modify the content in a collaborative manner.  In the article “How To Use Wikis For Business”, the author defines wiki as a web page that anyone or anyone with permission can create or edit. Even though more than one person can contribute to a blog, generally, blogs are run by a single author whereas wikis require multiple authors. Another big difference between the two is that the information provided by blogs are opinionated while the purpose of a wiki is to share knowledge. Although their approach may be different, the overall goal of the two is to communicate information to their audience.

Convergence is clearly necessary for everyone. Since our lives basically relies on the internet and the information it provides, we need to constantly update ourselves to stay relevant with what is going on around us. Especially in the business world where networking is essential to success, convergence helps us stay connected and even help us gain the competitive advantage by giving us access to information wherever we go.

In the article “Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid’, the author describes a great example of how blogging can be used for collaboration. The article described how a blogging website called BayRidgeTalk.com helped police capture drug dealers who were making neighbors feel unsafe about the neighborhood. Although this is a rare case, the collaborative efforts of the bloggers helped make their neighborhood a safer place.

Lastly, I think a new use for wikis would be to turn it into a forum similar to Reddit.com. People can add their findings and opinions on certain matters onto the wiki which would be a hybrid of a forum, blog and a wiki altogether. Another interesting idea is that wikis could be used a chatroom.