Russell Smith's BLOGical

ECI 509--Blogs and Wikis

One of the ways in which the Internet is expanding in terms of communicating ideas is in the area of weblogs, commonly known as blogs.  Blogs are modern versions of diaries or journals in which the user can enter information on a frequent basis for any number of reasons.  They have become popular because they give people a forum for expressing their daily experiences, their beliefs, opinions, or thoughts on the events that have taken place in their lives, or in the world.

There are three main types of blogs:  the personal journal; the filter; and the k-log (or knowledge log).  The most common type of blogs are personal journals; they allow the user to relay their recent experiences and express their opinions or beliefs on whatever they feel on a number of topics.  Most of the information they impart details mundane, day-to-day activities, which are common to most people.  However, they are widely used because they offer a glimpse into other peoples? lives without seeming obtrusive.  The writer of the blog doesn?t tell more information than they volunteer to share. 

The second type of blog, filters, focus on particular topics, and feature the opinions and beliefs of the owner of the blog.  Filter blogs feature links to various news stories and offer their opinions on one particular news story.  Filter blog entries usually have more comments posted by readers than do personal journals because the opinions that are expressed are political in nature and attract the attention of entries that either agree or disagree with the opinions of the writer.  This type of blog has exploded in popularity within the past 5 years, due to the politics involving the United States and its foreign and domestic policies.

The third type of blog is a k-log, or knowledge log.  These types of blogs are created to help a user keep track of data on a frequent basis.  These blogs are usually business-based, and serve as a professional journal for the user. 

Another type of information-accumulating site that is gaining in popularity is a wiki.  Wikis are encyclopedia-type websites that are created that allow the general public to contribute information relevant to a certain topic.  Most often, this information is correct and the person who enters the information provides proper citation for the source of the information.  However, there are occasions where information contributed to wikis are incorrect or not cited, which decreases the credibility of the information. 

Posted at 10:31AM Oct 05, 2006 by rjsmith3 in General  |  Comments[1]