Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and Wiki's play a vital role in today's world. In the YouTube video Blogs vs. Wiki a Fictitious Debate, which I thought was quite clever, there were important points that were made. Blogs and Wikis both enable the communication of information by a person or a group of people and provide a platform for feedback. However, by using blogs we are able to control what information is dispersed and you can see the authors of such information. Wiki's on the other hand are less rigid and anyone can edit the information at any time and anonymously. 

In the reading Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write a Blunt and Unfiltered Blog, NY Times, march 3, 2008, p. C1, at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/business/03walmart.html we see where blogs are actually quite open and make room for the public to voice their opinions on any number of things. The fact that a Merchandise Manager from Walmart wrote a blog on computers and electronics is perhaps the most helpful to consumers. It provides them with some real and informative feedback on products they may be interested in. One would think that being an employee at Walmart would render a biased opinion on their products, but this blog is very frank and honest, which is a quality many would appreciate.

Between blogs and wikis my preference is Wikis. I find myself on many wiki pages for a source of reference daily. I think that this is a new perspective to the old encyclopedia and that the collaborative effort of many can yield better outcomes than that of one. In "Wikipedia to Limit Changes to Articles on People" by Noam Cohen, The New York Times, August 24, 2009. Available athttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/technology/internet/25wikipedia.html?_r=1 I agree with their policy to have an experienced contributor review the edited contented on people before posting. Otherwise the unwarranted and malicious postings will indeed cause chaos. This can damage a person's reputation and have negative repercussions on their professional lives.

Blogs can be used collaboratively through people giving their input and stating their opinion on specific blogs. For example, the blogs created for my Principles in New Media class were added to my blog roll and I can review them for ideas to help me with the class. Also if I have any feedback I would be able to do so on my fellow classmates blogs. I have always been told that wiki's are not credible. I think that with having the proper channels to ensure what is posted is true and can be verified would help tremendously in making it more credible. Much like the reviewing process for people I think that there should be a reviewing process in general for anything posted and data should be cross examined. Classrooms can benefit tremendously with Wikis and can give students a sense of community. They would have an avenue to express themselves freely and be able to foster their individuality.