Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and wikis are both used for posting about certain note or information, sharing with others and connecting people. They are used for a collaborative purpose. A blog is a website that selects one or few authors (or bloggers) who can create posts and contents, and change the setting of blog website. It is more suited for individual authoring, although it can be collaborative. The language written on blogs is usually informal because the posts on a blog are made up of personal reflections, news and notes. The readers can make personal comments on the posts on a blog. According to Michael Wilson’s article, “Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid,” the neighborhoods in Brooklyn share their stories on BayRidgeTalk.com about experience with drug dealers in the town and finally get them arrested. This example shows that how people can communicate and share their personal stories on the blog and become collaborative and connected.

Wikis, on the other hand, allows anyone to edit the information on the website. The users do not make comments below posts; they can directly change the content of a post. Therefore, wikis are more suitable for collaborative authoring.  The language is formal on wikis. One example of wikis is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a website that provides an information for almost every subject in the world. Anyone who has an access to Internet and has an account can edit the information there. Wikipedia is a collection of information provided from the users around the world. I believe wikis can be used for connecting people from different parts of the world. People can make friends by posting on a website, and the website automatically translates the post in one’s language. In this way, people can make cyber friends.