Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and wikis are similar in that they are part of new media.  The similarities between the two is that they are both easily accessible by anyone in the world, satisfying the Community aspect of New Media.  Anyone can search for blogs or wikis containing certain information in a matter of seconds with a simple keystroke and click of a mouse.  Also, blogs and wikis are created by users such as you and me.  it is done by a collaboration of information found over the internet or even through collaboration of like minded people.  The best part of blogs and wikis is that they are free of cost to create.  They are simple to create and set up using free software or even sites found over the internet.

However, blogs are considered to be more of a journal whereas wikis are a database of information.  It is a form of new media that is used and accessed by many people all over the world, including celebrities. This is exemplified in an article written by Melissa Gerry entitled "Celebrity Blogs: The Impact of New Media" where she states many people now turn to blogs written by these celebrities for their celebrity gossip, instead of tuning to programs such as Access Hollywood or E!.  These blogs can be a form of collaboration as someone would post a blog about a certain topic and readers can comment on these topics based on their own opinions.  Therefore, these collaboration of ideas can in turn change people's opinions on certain topics if discussed correctly.

Wikis, on the other hand, are a collaboration of ideas and information written by any user.  Unlike blogs where the creator of the blog can edit the post, anyone who has access to these wikis can edit the entries and information posted.  Wikis as they are now appear to be perfect as people are able to converge on information found and able to easily get the message across.  The main benefit of wikis as opposed to blogs can be best stated in an article by Ezra Goodnoe entitled "How to use Wikis for Business."  Here she states that "Wikis are designed to facilitate the exchange of information within and between teams. Content in a wiki can be updated without any real lag, without any real administrative effort, and without the need for distribution — users/contributors (with wikis, they're one and the same) simply visit and update a common Web site."  What is basically said here is that wikis can be considered more professional as it is used in businesses and teams, whereas blogs are considered less professional as anyone is able to create a blog and used by people such as teens and celebrities.


Blogs and wikis have their pros and cons.  Blogs are accessed and created by many people daily, even hourly, and is best used to convey your opinion on a certain topic.  However, blogs can be seen as journals that depict a person's daily life through the medium known as the internet.  Wikis on the other hand can be helpful when researching for information, but the downside of this is that anyone can access wikis and the information you see may not be as accurate as you perceive.  Therefore, new media can help with collaboration and convergence, but accuracy is negatively affected.