Blog v Wiki

To begin, blogs and wikis are similar in the sense that they both can be accessed anywhere in the world and encourage a collaboration of ideas (in a general sense). No matter where you are on the globe, each source allows you to view and connect with other users. Aside from this, both sources are fairly simple to set up due to the availability of free software.

Aside from these similarities, wikis and blogs are also very different. A blog is more of a personal platform of addressing news or ideas. In this case, there is usually just one person in control of the content that makes its way on to the blog. On the other hand, wikis are made up of a collection of members. Everyone can work together to edit and create new pages. This is what introduces us to the sense of collaboration in wikis. This collaboration, or convergence, has become increasingly important throughout the years. This allows more people to exchange ideas and information on an efficient basis. Examples of these uses include work purposes, research, projects, and much more. One surprising fact about wikis in the workplace is that they usually arise from employees, rather than management. At the most part, it turns out to be more efficient and collaborative than the tools provided by an employer (“Making the Most of Company Wikis” article).

 In blogs, the way that ideas are collaborated is through exploring other blog members’ pages and posting comments. By doing so, users are able to respond and express their own ideas, while absorbing the knowledge of the blog poster as well. Information is posted in reverse chronological order, where the older posts exist further down. In wikis, information is provided based on sections and subsections, where older content is deleted or updated. Although blogs are used mostly for news, education, and personal purposes, there has been unique situations where blogs have even been used to help law enforcement. In the “Brooklyn Blog” article, blog posts in concern of drug dealing and fighting aided in police raids; which in turn, helped keep the community safer. It seems as whether it is a blog or a wiki, the possibilities are endless. 

One new way that wikis can be used is to create a network of doctors in a specific state or country. This way, all doctors could collaborate and stay educated of the newest outbreaks, as well as stay up to date on the most effective treatments for patients. This would be beneficial to all doctors, no matter if you began your career in 1990 or 2017.