Saturday, February 27, 2021

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WikiWikiWeb: The Whiteboard Technology of Internet Communications

When the World Wide Web was first introduced, it promised to be the first truly universal tool for mass communication - a voice for everyone, a global exchange of ideas. Unfortunately, HTML technology isn't quite as easy to use as all that and so the Web became more of a mass reading medium. Sure, you can post to online newsgroups but your words are limited and you get lost among the multitudes. Then along came blogs, aka Web logs, that allow an individual to quickly stream ideas onto a Web page.

But the typical corporate environment needs something more. They need a platform that allows quick and easy communication among group members, whether that group is a product development team, a sales organization, a customer forum, or an interactive discussion between a vendor and its suppliers. Only recently has technology progressed to the point where such communication is possible.

Enter the WikiWikiWeb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki), a new collaborative technology that allows groups of people to write and edit documents using a web browser. Wiki is based on a simple markup language that is quick to understand. No prior review is needed before modifications are accepted and most wikis are open to anyone who is provided access to the wiki server. While some may be concerned about the accuracy and quality of the data being uploaded, the idea is that because virtually anyone can participate, errors will be quickly found and corrected.

There are obvious knowledge management applications for this technology. A wiki can make it easier for a group to gather and consolidate information on virtually any topic. The original and most popular wiki, was created by Ward Cunningham to discuss patterns in programming. Other popular wikis are the Wikipedia encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) and the World 66 travel guide (http://www.world66.com/home).

In a July 29, 2004 Wall Street Journal article, Kara Swisher writes about how wikis are altering the way employees work together. "Enter the wiki, which has aims to revive the idea of the 'writable Web,' which was how the medium itself was originally conceived by many of its earliest proponents. A wiki has been likened by some to a giant digital whiteboard in a constant state of movement and creation."

The goal is to move beyond large, passive audiences reading Web sites and create fluid, ongoing conversations that create a larger, more informative picture. Stay tuned for a wiki coming your way.