With the growing use of wiki’s and blogs in today’s world it is important to distinguish the differences between each, along with how they are used. A blog is similar to a journal, it usually only has one author however there can be multiple authors. Typically blogs talk about every day things or things that matter to the person blogging. Blogging is more personal than wiki's because the blogger can express his or her opinion on an event while wiki's are fact based. Blogs offer some interaction between the blogger and the person reading the blog by allowing people to leave comments and send a message to the blogger. Blogs usually have an archive because a time line is relevant; the blogger may change their opinion about something, or constantly update people on an ongoing story.
An example of blogs used for collaboration can be found in Michael Wilson’s article “Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid”. A blog known as bayridgetalk.com was used by a core group of seven citizens to post on suspicious activity within Bayridge. The blog led to the arrest of 5 drug dealers within a few months. Without the blog it would have been much harder to communicate and make the neighborhood aware of what was going on in the area.
A wiki is more like an encyclopedia. It allows multiple users to edit content and the content is updated or edited when necessary. There is no need to archive a wiki because information on a wiki is suppose to be updated or edited as new information becomes available. Wiki’s often use other wiki pages in order to link relevant information together.
It is hard to think of a new use for a wiki because many diverse industries and people have already found a use for wiki’s. For example, in “More on How to Build Your Own Wikipedia” by Margaret Locher wiki’s are a growing part of corporate use along with personal use. Companies like EMC are beginning to use wiki’s because they are cheap and don’t necessarily require IT specialization to run them. Even for education wiki’s are starting to become tools for learning; this online course has a wiki available to students. Perhaps a new use for a wiki would be a social network format were people will be listed along with their biography, accomplishments, and other factual information. Hopefully this idea will never happen because it seems to go a little too far with regard to people’s privacy.
Convergence is important in today's world because as Kathy Gill points out in "How can we measure the influence of the blogosphere" the advance in technologies throughout the year such as the internet have made people have new expectations about the "right to express an opinion and access information upon which to base that opinion" (pg 1:introduction). Things like blogging and wiki's help people access this kind of information easier. Not only do people have easier access to information through blogs and wikis but these tools also force mass media to present its news differently. As Gill points out, mass media often presents a homogenization of news; blogger's can challenge mainstream media and force them to move from being just observers to commentators. Blogs can even change the agenda on what to report on and what is considered news worthy. Without convergence people will be starved for the information that they actually want and instead they will be given a homogenization of information the mass media decides to report on.
