How do blogs and wikis differ? Which is better? For me, these are important questions which I’ve yet to totally resolve for the folks I’d like to connect to.
In some ways, blogs and wikis are very similar. They both -
- incorporate immediate, web based, postings,
- directly involve the participation of the individual user,
- typically invite anyone to join, and
- provide a structured access to prior postings.
There are, however, dramatic differences.
Blogs - discussion, diversity, disagreement
- are focused upon the kind of opinions and stories that people might share with friends in a café or parking lot,
- are typically oriented toward a few specific topics for a targeted interest group,
- elicit inquires, opinions, and discussion about various aspects of those core topics,
- present and hold these postings in reverse chronological order structure,
- may encompass the reactions of dozens of participants in any specific discussion,
- contributions of participants are usually visceral and conversational in nature, and
- may evolve into social networking sites.
Wikis - cooperation, collaboration, consensus
- are assembled like research articles or progress reports produced by a study group,
- usually encompass a broad array of topics as a service to a wide, diverse audience,
- elicit participation both about the current array of topics as well as any new, affiliated topics,
- may include the collaborative participation of thousands of members with interests spread across a broad array of topics,
- organize the repository of the accumulated research and insights into a flexible, topically structured, cross-referenced database,
- offer a varied, considered presentation of the topics covered that their many participants continually enhance, and
- may evolve into respected reference sites.
Both blogs and wikis have their place.
- If you want to chat with an Internet friend or learn the gut reaction that a few others might feel about your immediate issue, use a blog.
- If, however, you need to learn from the accumulated research and wisdom of many so that you may apply that knowledge to your issue, use a wiki.
Rather than choose one or the other, however, I thought I’d do both. Obviously, this is the blog. If you’d like to see the wiki, go to wikiSenior.com. Which do you think is best for my fellow seniors?
N. B. Click below to make a comment. If you would prefer to make an enhancement to the original article, please go to wikiSenior.com and click on edit.