Global PR Blog Week 1.0

Trevor -- I have a question for you and for anyone else in the group who may have a thought on it. We are using both blog software and wiki software to support NewPR interactions. I grasp the fact that a wiki is like a blank whiteboard to which everyone may freely contribute content in any way they like, and that a blog is more siloed, with distinct threads (like this one) we can all jump in on. Do you think some day we will have an integration of these tools? In the meantime, how do we decide which is better for any particular application? I will welcome your thoughts on this. Thanks.... Dan

Posted by: Dan Forbush at July 2, 2004 02:57 PM

Dan - This is a question I admit I haven't thought too much about, I'm a relatively recent convert to both technologies. A wiki strikes me as a great project management tool and it takes at least some of the administrative pressure off the 'project manager' - because everyone adds their own stuff rather than 'delegating' it to some other person. I also think it will expose those (unfortunately numerous) people who hide in corporate project teams and free ride off the group's ideas and efforts. A wiki seems to me a very transparent way of doing a project where everyone can see the quality of contributions of all participants. The big 'problem' with wikis I guess is their vulnerability to anyone who might want to sabotage them (though even this can be overcome faster and easier than getting grafitti off a subway wall). Blogs are far more individualistic - even group blogs are individualistic amalgams rather then genuine teams. I think most of us will still want blogs even if we also use wikis. I like teams but I also love the sheer exhilaration of being able to publish anything I like in a pretty raw state without the usual editing and review process -- which in my professional experience usually makes things less readable rather than more. So I see both as important but I also see them having different roles and I also believe that blogs are a radical departure from our 'control' view of communication and wikis are another step beyond that and we'll all have to get a lot more comfortable with blogs first before we are ready en masse for the even more radical experiment of wikis. Anyway, some initial thoughts :)

Posted by: Trevor Cook at July 2, 2004 08:18 PM

I think wikis, while offering a great space to begin coordinating projects etc., have significant drawbacks due to their still somewhat primitive nature. I think that alone, wikis simply aren't enough, although I love their ability to open a window on the action so no one can hide!

SocialText (http://www.socialtext.com) offers a wiki/blog combo, and their wiki is a bit better for seeing changes that the one we are using over at NewPR. However, I think much more has to happen so that we can more easily track changes visually.

Also, I'd like to be able to drop-in tables, do surveys and lots of other things by simply plugging them into the wiki. As far as I can tell, no one allows that in any easy-to-do manner.

I think the only way we can decide what the best tools are for any particular application is to experiment with them, as I am proposing we do with the Open Source PR Project. Then, we share our results!

I suspect it will be difficult for a wiki to have a "voice." Rather, it is a place to organize information. Blogs will always have "voice" as they are places to organize thoughts.

Posted by: Elizabeth Albrycht at July 7, 2004 02:59 AM