Impact of Wikis, Wikipedia and WikiLeaks

Of all the applications that have emerged from the Internet wikis may prove to be the most important and influential in impacting almost every aspect of societyamp8211amp8211from the individual and family unit to governments and global relationships The ability to freely gather and communicate information is an aweinspiring freedom that we have only begun to understand deal with and integrate into our lives Usergenerated content is all around us from Wikipedia to WikiLeaks from comments on Yelp to the Huffington Post and your average everyday blogger It39s the world we live in the air we breathe the culture that surrounds us The ability to instantaneously selfpublish writing photos and videos has become commonplaceamp8211amp8211both in the US and throughout the worldThe result has been a boon for free speech education and communication even as it has raised issues regarding security privacy and verifiabilityA Brief History of the Wiki and WikipediaWikis are named after quotwiki wikiquot the Hawaiian word for quotquickquot and they officially date back to 1995 Ward Cunningham a Smalltalk developer created the first wiki The Portland Pattern Repository as part of his company39s website The wiki improved communication between software developers discussing programs and identifying software patternsThat first wiki is still active and includes over thirty thousand pages As with all wikis since it had the hallmark feature of pages that could be edited within a browser The concept was simple yet revolutionary allow multiple users to edit or add to a site and enable them to see what others addedWikis are used for a variety of projects and purposes companies can create collaborative wikis to enable managers around the world to work together on programs proposals and initiatives teachers use wikis so students can collaborate on projects and coauthors use wikis to write books togetherWikis and WikiLike SitesIn fact wikis and wikilike sites have become ubiquitous in our daily lives Even social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn have a wikiish quality On these sites people can contribute to the content of their friends39 walls and collaborate to create what social media experts call an quot ambient awarenessquot of each other39s doings as discussed in a 2008 article by Clive Thompson in The New York Times quot Brave New World of Digital Intimacyquot The comment function common in blogs news articles and social media is modeled on the wiki world as well since quotcommentsquot enable users to participate in the processing and delivery of contentIn 2001 Wikipedia the online encyclopedia of everything was launched and since then it has garnered much acclaim and become one of the mostvisited sites on the web In 2011 Wikipedia raised twenty million dollars in funding support directly from the site39s users testifying to the value it offers to a large and passionately connected userbase Due in part to Wikipedia39s success today there are thousands of publicamp8211amp8211and privateamp8211amp8211wiki sitesWiki ToolsThere are a variety of tools available for people wanting to start their own wikis Some like PBworks are geared toward corporations wanting to facilitate communication between employees Others such as Wikispaces and Google Docs offer free individual wiki hosting for small groups Even blog hosting companies such as Wordpresscom provide blog options that allow for multiple users and editable websitesThis use of wikis is mirrored in the corporate world where private wikis are used to facilitate projects that may have players in many different parts of the world For that matter Google Docs allows editing by multiple parties and gives all of them instant access to the edits and changes of others Wikis are ideal for recording conversations debates and arguments among collaborators Wikis are living documents and they allow for a living breathing discussion among participants while recording that discussion as part of the creating editing and revising processWikiLeaks Too Much SharingThere are downsides to wikis however For one thing not everyone wants everything instantaneously sharedTake WikiLeaks for example This site founded in 2007 is devoted to publishing and sharing government and corporate secrets It has come under fire for releasing documents and information that compromise military security Numerous documents related to US military actions and secrets have been published on the site drawing the criticism of many who would like to see the site shut down or censoredFor its part WikiLeaks defends its practices saying on its site that its quotgoal is to bring important news and information to the public We provide an innovative secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists our electronic drop box One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truthquotThis argumentamp8211amp8211that it is providing the truthamp8211amp8211is a powerful one In fact the reason WikiLeaks has made commentators government officials and corporate leaders so uneasy is that it is revealing the truth And the truth can potentially endanger others diplomats the military and national security Ed Note very prescient in the context of Snowden39s theft and publication of government documents and communicationsWikiLeaks allows people to post information without providing any context or explanation making it difficult for readers to interpret and understand it Open access to information is appealing and in many ways is a hallmark of an open democratic society There are legitimate arguments to be made however for protecting national securityIn the court case against Army Pfc Bradley Manning accused of posting secret documents on WikiLeaks defense attorneys argued that the fact that these documents were available revealed lax security measures on the part of the military WikiLeaks raises questions about who has access to what and how it should be publicized Wikileaks illustrates how informational wikis have changed more quickly than the laws that might regulate themWithin these limited parameters however the possibilities and promise of wikis are almost endlessWikis and EducationSecurity breaches and political battles aside wikis are dramatically transforming education They provide an ideal platform for sharing and collaboration Teachers are using them to facilitate learning in and outside of the classroom Wikis will help a new generation of students learn how to work together and increase their productivityEducational wikis differ from sites like Wikipedia in that participation is limited to a private group or community The group then uses the wiki for a predetermined purpose or project Only group members can edit and share the information on the wikiWikis and Citizen JournalismJournalism has experienced the greatest impact from usergenerated content and the wiki revolution The availability and accessibility of wikilike platforms for reporting the news has transformed how journalism is practiced who practices it and whyNews organizations realize that everyone who carries a cell phone can in some way report unfolding news As a result many of them have designed platforms specifically for capturing this contentCNN for instance has iReport which allows users to upload their videos pictures and stories about ongoing or breaking news events CNN describes this service as follows quotiReport is an invitation for you to be a part of CNN39s coverage of the stories you care about and an opportunity to be a part of a global community of men and women who are as passionate about the news as you arequotOther news organizations have followed suit calling for news tips stories photos audio files blogs and other content from usersThe Yahoo Contributor Network YCN is a growing platform that publishes content from users including freelance journalists business owners wine experts and many more The YCN model unlike CNN39s iReport also pays users for their contentCurating and Controlling WikiContentNevertheless legitimate news organizations cannot simply publish or broadcast anything that comes along If a news organization is going to stamp its brand on content the content needs to be verified and curated Curating involves controlling filtering shaping and distributing content Curation of usergenerated content has become key to using and distributing this content responsiblyWikipedia is an example of how curating has grown out of an early wiki model many people have specific Wikipedia entries they watch ready to fix or edit anything that is erroneously changed in those entriesNew models of journalism will need more stringent gatekeepers professionals who will sort through the content decide what gets published what gets featured and what gets removed After all contributors aren39t necessarily equipped with the skills to report or package news or other content CNN39s iReport staff curates when it decides what videos to endorse highlight and feature on its siteNews content also needs to be put into contextamp8211amp8211blurry cell phone videos of riots and audio recordings of meetings are often meaningless on their ownThere is a fine line between curating and censorship but that has always been the case in publishingWikis and MarketingBusinesses are publishing and distributing usergenerated content as their primary content Sites like Yelp rely almost entirely on the reviews submitted by users Other sites like Kaboodle combine social networking with usergenerated content The site encourages users to post information about their entertainment choices and purchases find and compare merchandise and network with other shoppersIn fact all social networking sites from Facebook to Flickr rely on content created by and shared between users Though users generally can39t change each other39s content as they can in a true wiki model the contributors do influence other users with the content they post and distributeJust as the Hooked Up Generation expect their friends relatives and colleagues to be engaged proactively on social networks and in interactive wikis they also expect the opportunity to be engaged with business colleagues marketers retailers and governmental agenciesamp160Wikis and BusinessAs members of the Hooked Up Gen enter the workforce they will bring with them an understanding of social engagement and wikis and will begin integrating them more and more into the daytoday processes and operations of their employersWikis will emerge not only as a tool for communicating with customers but will become a required component of the human resources management of companies large and small Employee and executive wikis will enable active communications among teams and whole workforces Auto assembly plants will have their own quality control wikis and auto companies will have a wiki for all employees Wikis of auto dealers will enable best practices to be shared and consumer complaints to be addressed quickly Wikis for owners of specific auto models will allow owners to voice complaints easily and will assure that auto companies cannot hide these complaints as they have done in the pastWhistleblowing remains an offense in most corporate and governmental cultures today with whistleblowers often being discredited and fired from their jobs In the case of WikiLeaks39 founder Julian Assange whistleblowers can become internationally wanted criminals But in the evolving wikicentric culture whistleblowing will be a daytoday reality that enables individuals to openly voice their concerns within a community Individuals will be safe from retribution when their concerns are supported or voted down by the community Involved parties will have an opportunity to respond quickly Organizations need to establish wikis and social connections among their employees and teams or have the networks forced upon them by employees who develop them There are no restrictions or costs to prevent anyone from establishing a wiki and socializing it to small and large groupsIn the 20th century society shifted from an unconnected series of small communities in which everyone knew everyone else39s business to a disconnected world in which societies and organizations could control the flow of information to and from their members Wikis are a powerful force for returning communities to an interconnected web of shared knowledge and common interestsWikification of the Worldamp160New applications for wikilike applications will further enable sharing editing curating commenting and socializing Internet Natives will quickly adopt these applications into their work and personal lives Applications including usercreated and curated content will be a normal part of decisionmaking as the Hooked Up Gen depend increasingly on recommendation engines curated usergenerated content and socialized content for their news information shopping entertainment and daytoday decisionmakingToday39s 1824 generation the first to grow up with the Internet as an embedded part of their lives will be leaders in developing and implementing wikis and social networks within companies nonprofits governmental agencies global societies religious congregations schools and classrooms fan clubs and associations Wikis will become ubiquitous as a basic communication resource for building links among people with common interests and enabling them to share their perspectives and points of view while at the same time enabling immediate feedback from others within their wiki communityTo Internet Natives wikis are more than another source of information and knowledge The great challenge will be to introduce these tools to older generations who have grown up in a world in which privacy of informationamp8211amp8211whether personal corporate or governmentalamp8211amp8211has been a rightOf all the applications that have emerged from the Internet wikis may prove to be the most important and influential in impacting almost every aspect of societyamp8211amp8211from the individual and family unit to governments and global relationships The ability to freely gather and communicate information is an aweinspiring freedom that we have only begun to understand deal with and integrate into our lives Chapter 20 Class of 2014 Job Market and Career Opportunities

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Impact of Wikis, Wikipedia and WikiLeaks

Author

Publish date

Channel

Jack Myers

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Impact of Wikis, Wikipedia and WikiLeaks

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Jack Myers

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

Cookies