Blog vs. Wiki

Blogs are a collection of dated entries classified by categories and sometimes labels. Blogs can have multiple authors, but each entry or post can only be written by one author, which makes blogs mostly an informative medium. Wikis, on the other hand, are collaborative since they are a collection of entries or articles that can be created and edited by multiple authors.

Entries in a blog can be very biased, but have the advantage of allowing visitors to leave comments, which incites discussion and participation. Since entries are time-stamped, their longevity is short and the subject get lost in the archives.

While wikis don’t have comments, they allow visitors – given the right permissions – to add and edit content, which makes them more dynamic than blogs. The collaborative nature of wikis makes them less prone to personal biases, and are often consensus builders as pointed out here. Wikis are not as time-centric as blogs, and since each user is a collaborator, the subject evolves and its information stays current.

Update: 10/7 After looking for a hosted wiki to manage a group project for one of my courses I discovered some wikis, such as PBworks, have commenting systems. A feature I’m not sure is available in MediaWiki. For those not aware, MediaWiki is the backbone of Wikipedia and Baruch’s new media wiki.