Blogs vs. Wikis

When individuals think about blogs and wikis, there are many similarities and differences that come to mind. Blogs, for instance, have a more personal feel than wikis. What I mean by the latter statement is that individuals tend to create blogs in order to share personal experiences and their thoughts regarding certain topics. Such can be seen in  Michael Wilson's article entitled "Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid." In his article, Wilson discusses how residents in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, commented on a blog that discussed various criminal activities that were going on in their neighborhood. Once the blog was created, individuals who lived in the neighborhood began commenting with their own personal experiences in regards to different illegal or criminal activities that they noticed occurring in the neighborhood. Unlike blogs, virtually any individual can edit a wiki. I use the word "virtually" because according to Noam Cohen's article entitled "Wikipedia to Limit Changes to Articles on People," Wikipedia requires some changes to articles to be reviewed by editors that are experienced in the field that the article encompasses before they are published. The individuals who edit wikis can also remain anonymous. Such anonymity is somewhat uncommon with blogs; many individuals who create blogs have their name published within the blog. Blog viewers can only comment on another individual's blog. So, unlike with wikis, individuals cannot edit or alter another individual's blog. However, blogs and wikis also bear similarities. The two forms of new media are similar in the sense that they provide a platform for individuals to communicate with one another, whether it be anonymously or not. Blogs and wikis are also a way for individuals to supply other individuals, and virtually the entire cyber-world, with different information. Both blogs and wikis make the convergence of ideas and research possible, which enables society to progress more rapidly than it ever has before. Blogs and wikis are essentially tools that enable people across the world to interact with one another.      One thing that blogs can be especially useful for is collaboration. What I mean by this is that blogs can be used in order to facilitate interactions between individuals. Again, an example of how blogs can enable individuals to collaborate with one another can be seen in Michael Wilson's article (which I previously mentioned). In his article, the residents in Bay Ridge used blogs in order to discuss certain crimes that they noticed occurring in their neighborhood. An even better representation of collaboration is how police officers used the information discussed in those blogs by the residents in order to crack down on crime and take physical action that came in the form of raids and arrests.      A unique use for wikis would be to use them to store certain data that can be accessed or altered at a later time. An example of this would be a group of friends who each upload pictures. Each friend in the group can upload a picture that they believe their friends would want to see and show others. Wikis can also be used in order to plan certain activities. For example, if a group of individuals want to plan a trip to a museum, they can create a wiki where they can post directions, information about the museum, fun facts, pictures, or anything else along those lines.  Works Cited:  Wilson, Michael. "Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2008. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.   Cohen, Noam. "Wikipedia to Limit Changes to Articles on People." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2009. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.

Research Topic

     

Tentative Title:      New Media: "New"sance or Necessity?

                                A Discussion of the Pros and Cons of New Media

For my project, I'm going to discuss various positive and negative aspects of new media. I plan on highlighting the benefits that new media, specifically Facebook and YouTube, had on the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. I will talk about how new media and social networking is vital for countries in political distress. I will also discuss how new media has made many aspects of everyday-life extremely convenient. Some negative effects of new media that I may discuss (not just limited to Facebook and YouTube) are privacy concerns, the disconnection from real-world experiences and encounters that new media has enabled, the dangers it poses to minors, how it is taking away from certain traditional art-forms (like the theater), and other ways it has negatively impacted the lives of individuals.