Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and Wikis. If you asked someone ten years ago what they thought about this debate they would think you were a weirdo. That is how new these things are and I think that their true impact is only starting to come forth.

Blogs are very much the conduit through with individuals can share their ideas and thoughts on certain aspects of whatever it is they are interested in (i.e. what I am doing right now). They have many options of customization and alteration which gives the end user many options in being able to let their blog represent them. A wiki is somewhat different. There are many things you can alter but aside from the information presented there is not much option to allow for the user to customize the look. However, the wiki is much more in depth than a blog. It is basically your own intranet. One can create many pages and link and build up a whole online database, which is what Wikipedia is.

In the article "Pentagon Keeps Wary Watch as Troops Blog", James Dao explains that soldiers use the blogs to relay their experiences of war, uncensored. This is their personal website and only they can alter it behind the firewalls. Thus we see that blogs are very much more of an individualistic nature. Conversely, in the article "How To Use Wikis For Business", Ezra Goodnoe explains how a business can use a wiki to increase productivity or revenue. The tern "database" is once again brought up and it is mentioned that all the employees can access and alter the information. Thus, we see that wikis are much more group oriented. 

As to which one is better, well that is like comparing apples to oranges. I like apples with my salad and oranges on hot summer days. Like wise, blogs and wikis can, and I think should, be used according to the situation and ones needs. Like all new media, these are tools to help us develop and a tool is only useful when used for what it was designed to be used for. 

ArcPolitic,