Blog v Wiki

In a growing age of inter-connectivity through means of advancing technology, shared work spaces where ideas and knowledge can flow are crucial to the advancement of human culture. Blogs & Wikis, although they exhibit differing characteristics, allow for such connectivity, with reference to global web infrastructure.
Blogs are unique in regard to their limit on shared work / collaboration, but the design allows for a plethora of information on a particular subject matter to be found on a single, personal web page. Gone are the days of running numerous database searches for that topic you wanted to learn more about. Blogs are enabled to house links where viewers can find follow up information or can be referenced to sites where details are expanded upon. This allows the author of such a blog to direct viewers to current events or published articles which can enhance the posts as a whole. For example, the cops were alerted to the sale and consumption of illegal narcotics in a residential area in Brooklyn through comments on a blog (1).
Wikis, on the other hand, allow for a much larger group collaboration environment. Posting or adding to a wiki is simplified to encourage collaboration as well as allowing specialists to expand upon certain ideas or to edit false claims / references. Not only do wikis enhance idea generation by encouraging multiple people to contribute, but they also offer an unbiased perspective on the topic on hand, with views coming from multiple accounts (2). This fosters a sense of connectivity and community.
Both of these platforms allow for feedback but in varying ways. Blogs allow a viewer to add a comment or reply to a comment whereas wikis allow viewers to directly input their feedback by altering the physical text from which they were viewing. With the expansion of living in a digital society, information and knowledge have the ability to influence major decisions while keeping the general public informed all over the world. Knowledge truly is power, and with platforms like these, inter-connectivity and convergence in today's networked world have never been more important.


Reference / Cite:
(1) https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/nyregion/26bayridge.html
(2) https://www.cio.com/article/2436789/more-on-how-to-build-your-own-wikipedia.html

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