Blogs vs. Wikis

Two prominent members of the new media family, Blogs and wikis are very similar while different.  They are both great web 2.0 vehicles, which allow for the sharing of views and knowledge of numerous topics.  The differences between blogs and wikis mainly lie in their layouts, contents and contributors.

The layout of blogs resembles traditional newspaper and magazine articles.  The posts in the blog are listed in reverse chronological order and there access to archived blogs if needed.  There are many gadgets that can be attached to blogs such as a blogroll, which provide links to other related and interesting blogs.  One of the main items on a blog is the comment section, which follows each individual blog post. This is where the conversation and interaction from readers take place. Blogs are mainly a one-person contribution media, but the comments section opens an opportunity for collaboration of some sort. In her work, "How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere?" Kathy E. Gill describes blogging as the best example of “participatory journalism”.  Blogs are great for providing the latest news, reviews, opinions, personal reflections and search for feedback.

Wikis look like a more traditional information source.  The pages of a wiki are provided through links.  These links give way to both internal wiki pages and external links.  Wikis are great resource tools, and the layout is also great for manuals, online courses, and collaborative document writing.  The wiki is a great collaborative tool since it is created and edited by many users.  However, discussions and comments are better carried out on blogs.  This view is shared by Ezra Goodnoe of www.informationweek.com who wrote, “Wikis are structurally capable of handling conversation, but it is not their forte; instead, wikis excel at collaboration.”