Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and wikis are just two types of new media technology. Both can serve as community forums where people can agree to disagree and/or help other people out by loaning their knowledge on a subject. However, the biggest difference between the two is who's communicating. Even though both technologies serve as a medium for communication, a blog is one person's view on an issue/topic whereas, a wiki is a team collaboration on the issue/topic.

An anonymous blogger said "...blogs are a modern soapbox designed for opinions, rants and invective," as restated by columnist Maureen Dowd of the New York Times. Blogs are usually administered by one person who voices their opinion and then followers have the opportunity to comment on what's written. The most obvious distinction is that nobody else can alter what another person says. Conversely, with team collaborations, there's a risk of opinionated people editing the work to show their point of view which may not always be fact. According to Noam Cohen, journalist for the New York Times, "Wikis, by contrast, are collaborative only in retrospect — someone has to be prepared to be the first to write something, and deal with having those words changed by a complete stranger." As a result, you cannot rely solely on a wiki for information because the context may be more persuasive than informational.

Converging is important in today's networked world. It allows for interaction between different people which opens up to more diversity in all aspects of life. Diversity is perhaps the most important reason of convergence because one can learn something new or find a new-found ideology on an old tradition. Blogs are a perfect example because you can discuss and comment on what other people have to say which in turn could prove fruitful for your own understanding. Collaboration on a blog can be useful as well because there's more than one opinion for a person to relate to. In turn, there's more to comment on and more to discuss which again brings up diversity as a factor.

Wikis are used in many settings. People use it for school, work, or entertainment. One way wikis can be used is to allow people to collaborate and write a story or movie script. It can be based on any genre and be entirely fiction or based on a true story. I'm not sure if this use already exists, but it would be great to see other ideas people come up with.