Blogs and Wikis

A blog is an informal website conslisting of time-stamped articles , or posts , in a daiary or jounal format , usually listed in reverse chronological order . A wiki is a collaborative web sites that allows users to create , add to  , modify  or delete the web site contant via their web browser.

Blogs and Wikis : The Personal Perspective

Blog topics often  include family lifie , social life , a personal project , or events during a vacation . You might read and contribute to a wiki regarding classical guitar techniques if your hobbies included playing classical guitar . While blogs can be modified only by the author, a wiki can athored and editied by  any user . Another difference between blogs and wikis is that blog entries typically are not included in search results from search engines , such as Google , while wiki entries are recognized by searchengine queries. Figure include indicates some advantages , disadvantages and good practices of using blogs and wiki  in your personal life.

Figure

Personal Blog And Wiki

Advantages  SOME BLOGS AND WIKIS PROVIDE SECURE ACCESS SO THAT ONLY A SELECT GROUP OF QUALIFIED OR DESRIED INDIVIDUALS ARE ALLOWED TO  READ AND WRITEN ENTRIES .

Blogs: Easy, accessible , and often free method of keeping a group of people informed about events.

Blogs: Easy way to keep up with an acquaintance or expand your knowledge about political or socail points of view.

Blogs: often can be read or written using internet –enabled personal mobile devices

Wikis: Provide free access to concise , almost encyclopedic, information about nearly any topic.

Disadvantages

Vulnerable to fraudulent or biased entries placed by businesses or special interest groups in an effort to sway public opinion.

Blogs : often are biased towards a particular point of view .

Wikis: Publicly accessible wikis sometimes are vulnerable to vandalism or subject to errors.

Good practies

Blogs: When  writing a blog , be aware that contants of your blog may be accessible publicly and associated with your identity for a very long time.

Blogs: When reading blogs, be aware of the source of the information and evaluate the credibillty of the source.

Wikis: when performing research  using a wikis , check any provided sources and if, if possible , check the editorial history of the entries.

Wikis: If you locate an error , notify the autor or editor of the wiki page, or , if possible , edit the page yourself to make the correction.

Wikis: when possible , contribute your own knowledge to wikis that interest you, being sure to follow the guidelines of the wiki.

 Figure while blogs and wikis provide a great deal of informations sharing , users and contributors alike should be aware of the risks involved .( where noted , some bullet points apply only to particular technologies).

Blogs And Wikis : The business Perspective                         

Many businesses use blogs and wikis to share knowledge within the company .One large company claims to maintain more than 300,000 blogs and wikis internally. A key reason that blogs and wikis are so popular in business in that they can be written, read, and searched easily. As the company’s resident expert regarding  a particular topic , an employee may blog to keep others informed about topics relating to that expertise . A business – oriented wiki may contain a wealth of historical knowledge for a particular department in the company. Figure  indicates some advantages , disadvantages and good practices of using blogs and wikis in business.

Figure

Blog and Wiki use in Business

Advantages

Provide easy access to gaines knowledge and experience .

Easily can be searched by emplyees.

Some may be made available to customers  , business partners, or the general public.

Blogs : publicly accessible blogs often are used as effective means to promote producats or services.

Disadvantages

Mistakes, inaccuracies , and inconsistencies in entries can lead to lost productivity and increased costs .

Internal company blogs and wikis often contain proproetary company information that easily can be leaked to competitors or the press.

Blogs: when contributing to  ab blog , some employees become engrossed with capturing every detail of their job.

Wikis: Information often may become old , or state , if it is not update regularly.

Good pracitces

Search your company ‘s blogs and wikis for information before telehoning , instant messaging , or e-mailing a colleague with a question.

If you do not find an answer to question on your company’s blogs or wikis , then contribute to a blog or wiki once you find the answer.

When contributing to a blog or wiki entry , read your company’s policies regarding contant , formating , and style . Some companies employ full – time bloogers and writers who can help you contribute a valuable entry.

When contributing to a blog or wiki entry , stay on topic and create links with in your entry to other related or relevant web pages, including other blog and wiki entries.

Blogs: When engaging in personal blogging , do not discredit your employer or potential future employers; many people lost their jobs as a result of engaging in such behavior.

Blogs: When engaging in personal blogging , be careful not to divulge proprietary company information.

Figure   Business blog and wiki use typically is governed by more guidelines and rules than those for personal blogs and wikis.