Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and Wikis are two forms of communicating information as new media. There are some key similarities and differences between the two. Both are capable of incorporating collaboration amongst the internet community but there is a distinction of how involved the community can be. Information control is the key difference between the two. Articles published by blogs are edited solely by the writer and can only be commented upon by the community, whereas wiki articles can be published and edited by anyone in the community.
Information on blogs can be kept in strict moderation under the discretion as blog page owner. James Dao described social media control by the government in The New York Times Article, "Pentagon Keeps Wary Watch as Troops Blog" as restrictive to maintain the integrity of the security of the armed forces. On the other hand, Michael Barbaro of The New York Times wrote in "Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write Unfiltered Blog" that some blog sites allow for unrestricted commenting by the community. Wal-mart has shown an example of blog community collaboration of customers regarding goods and services offered by Wal-mart. Blogs can encourage the community to freely reply to articles, publications and other comments as well. This ease of providing one's thought can spur collaboration. Blog site owners may choose to let the community get freely involved or enforce what is posted on their blog.
Information on wikis are generally open for anyone to add, edit, and remove, however, there are some wikis open for collaboration for only a team of users. In the article "More on How to Build Your Own Wikipedia" by Margaret Locher at CIO, wikis were described as being more commonly used by corporations to collaborate their departments and employees. Corporate wikis usually designate small teams to update project details and other information. Wikis could conceivably be used for instructional guides for common to uncommon applications in life. Although several wikis are information databases that focus on facts. Wikis can evolve into becoming a new support site in place of technical support or the latter. By providing more focus on how the information applies to the end-user, the wiki can become more than just a encyclopedia entry.
The principle of convergence is a key element in present day social media because the internet allows users to collaborate and communicate in this networked world. Information on the net will expand and hopefully become more resourceful with the help of the vast contributors to the online world.