Hello, my name is Lisa. And I do not like wikis. I apologize, Rick. Despite your many attempts to demonstrate the potentials of this medium, I still have not become a fan. I have created wikis, joined wikis, edited wikis, imported images and videos to wikis, but I still have not been won-over. I would even insert hyperlinks to my previous wikis for you to critique, but I guess I deleted them out of sheer embarrassment and frustration.
I can certainly see the benefits of wikis. They can be used to collaborate and share information. You can add images, links, and all kinds of other fabulous things.
Here are the reasons I do not like wikis:
1. Because multiple people can edit a wiki, something that I might not want changed or deleted could be modified by someone else.
If I do not allow others to edit a wiki, I might as well just create a website. Maybe this is the controlling, only-child side of my personality coming out, but I think it is a legitimate concern. It might be valuable to look at previous comments, edits, or dialogue. This is an option for email, blogs, and websites that allow comments. This is not an option for wikis, at least not that I am aware of.
2. The pbwikis that I have worked with are cumbersome.
Wikis have so many links and pages within pages, that they are often difficult to navigate. It can be overwhelming and confusing. Maybe I just haven't seen--or created--one that is organized in a way that suits me.
3. The pbwikis that I have worked with are unattractive.
I can't help it. Any website, blog, or wiki MUST be visually appealing and reasonable to navigate. If not, I generally will not bother with it unless I have no choice. Yes, this can be harsh. However, I believe that an inherent quality of digital media is that it should be user-friendly and appealing.
4. I don't trust the content on wikis.
With so many people contributing information, I do not trust them as sources of credible information. Wikipedia is the best example of this. Yes, there is a lot of information on this site. Yes, it can be helpful. No, you should not trust everything you read on it. No, you may not use this as a source for your research paper.
That said, I still think I might create a wiki for my final project. I might also create a website or do something entirely different. I'm still not quite sure. Like I said earlier, I think there is potential for wikis; I just need to figure out how to make it work for me.
I have started a wiki that may or may not turn into something more for my final project. I've been thinking all week about what I could create a wiki about that would be helpful to me or others. So far, I have not come up with any great ideas. Tonight I was hoping to spend more time sorting it all out, but I'm stuck using the computer in the lobby at my hotel (I'm traveling for work this week). The computer is ridiculously slow and has frozen up several times on me. Fortunately, I set up my wiki and wrote most of this post before I left. Nonetheless, I was hoping to have a base of the wiki started tonight. Alas, I am at the whim of technology. I PROMISE I'll work on it next weekend when I get home. I'm thinking I might use it as a way of gathering, organizing, and possibly presenting information and ideas for my final project. I'll keep you posted about that.
3 comments:
Well, that was frustrating. I just left a wonderfully written, provocative and insightful comment on your blog and it didn't show up. So here we go again. My response was right, right, right and right. I agree, I don't particularly like the idea of someone being able to edit and delete my hard work either. Two, Yes, wikis are cumbersome. I think that good linking methods are key. But with many people adding and subtracting, what gaurantee is there for methodical and effective linking? Three, yes they should be appealing and they're not. How can they be when the basic filing format stays the same? Ironically, one of the recommendations I read (either in the course texts or on one of the links) said that the front page should be attractive and interactive. That is really hard to do because it is not a website and doesn't have the same properties. I think that's one reason that wikis first turned me off. And last, trust. The idea of students and others contributing does seem loose and unbounded. I would think it would be very hard to verify accuracy. Your points are all very valid. That said, I'm still looking forward to viewing your wiki. I think that with your experience and keeping these insights in mind, yours will probably be fantastic.
Hey there, sunshine! I know we haven't talked in ages, but I'm revamping my blog in an attempt to give myself something to do and I read you post about wikis. I completely agree with you about everything! One of the people I worked with when I had a job was using a site called grou.ps which lets you create your own social network. It looks a lot like facebook, but you're in control of who is included and who gets to edit what. The best part was that as a teacher, he could assign points to certain types of posts (comments, videos, etc) and the site would calculate each individual member's total for him. It was sweet, you should check it out as an alternative. Good luck & miss you !
Katie
Katie! You crack me up. I love that you are working on your blog again :) Thanks for the tips on the other sites; I'll check those out.
Also, you should call/email/text me! I'd love to get together and catch up!
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