Wikiphilia - The New Illness
February 22nd, 2005I was taught (by whom I can’t remember) that in order to have confidence in your own views, you must understand the opposing viewpoints. I still believe that today, as there ae times when I am too quick to jump on an idea without thinking about the other side. It’s the nature of the medium I guess.
Anyway, for those that think that wiki’s are so useful, take a look at Wikiphilia - The New Illness. A few quotes:
“Wikiphilia: A mental illness characterized by the irrational conviction that any problem faced by a group can be rendered solvable through installation and use of a Wiki. This delusional ailment has been occurring in increasing numbers ever since it was first identified in 1995. Wikiphilia usually manifests in two distinct phases - the rapturous anticipation of the Wiki’s potential in the short post-installation phase; slowly giving way to denial of the Wiki’s failure to fulfill that potential in the second phase.”
“Wiki apologists suggest that low-value or erroneous content is quickly removed by the community, and in this way the Wiki becomes self-regulating. However, everyone has a different idea on what constitutes content that is valid and worth keeping. Typically, content that one agrees with is deemed “valid”, the rest “invalid” or “off topic” and therefore a candidate for deletion. Rather than content stabilizing as a result of judicious self-control, a Wiki discussion stabilizes after a series of selective edits EditWars, which continue until one of the parties loses interest. In other words, effective “regulation” cannot occur because there is no agreement amongst the self-appointed regulators as to what constitutes “regular” content. Unless the content is obviously inappropriate (e.g. spam), then anyone is free to adopt the role of “regulator” and delete content on any basis whatsoever.”
Read the entire article. It’s very poignant. Of course, there are two sides to every story and idea. Sometimes more. I love working with wikis, but do understand that there are drawbacks. Wikis work well in small, closed environments, with an interactive participatory audience.
Whenever I present on Weblogs and RSS, I have a “disadvantage” slide for each medium. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages (of course they would), but the fact is, there are pros and cons to any tool. We can only grow by identifying what they are. (link via Blogsnow, which I have became reacquainted with over the weekend)