Analysing wikis

Below I reflect on the questions given (bold). 

1.    An analysis of the social values wiki users adopt.

Wikis are a great way to collect and share information in a group.
Communication in e.g. project work can be difficult. Social values are:

·         less time necessery for face-to-face meetings

·        numbers of contributing  persons can be very high

·         easy documentation and peer assesment

Here a wiki is very helpful. It can save time for travelling and meeting, documentation, revision process. It easily can show the status of a group work.

It’s a bit less easy to keep the history of a document alive, though.

Some rules for contributions, discussion style and approval procedure need to be set to have a certain quality level for the input as well as a behavioural codex for discussions.

It can be difficult, if a wiki is accessible from outsiders of a workgroup. If the participants are not free to contribute and trusted, that will hinder good contribution.

2.    A discussion regarding the relationship between these social values and the features of the wiki technology itself.

The only wiki I really know is Wikipedia. I found working with a wiki at the beginning of the course H807 very stimulating to use it for work.

Are such technologies finding new ways of conducting behaviours that were already in operation, or are they promoting new types of behaviour?

In my opinion, Wikipedia  has spread a certain behaviour that was formerly a behaviour of a small group of academics and publishers.

The discourse about entries in some public encyclopaedia was formerly perused by this small group. Now a much wider group of people, not necessarily academics, is involved in discussions about how and what to write to a certain subject. The discussion behind the scene was and is fierce. However, now the discussion is more public and more people are involved. Some of them are experts some want to be and some are not.  There is a higher need to moderate those public discussions.

Using wikis, if you have not the trait to do it, can be a challenging experience. Publishing text is not everyone’s comfort zone. It might change people’s behaviour or make them reluctant to use the technology.

Are the technologies used uniformly, or do different communities use the same technology in different ways?

There are people with very different focus using e.g. for Wikipedia:

·         Some want to share their knowledge

·         Some want to be a part of the new hype

·         Some feel obliged to give back if they use e.g. Wikipedia

·         Some want to express themselves through the medium

·         Some replace parts of their social life with virtual interaction

·         Some want to clarify or inform to specific topics

·         Some want to state their opinion

Wikis can be used for group work in more or less public settings, for business or private purposes. A wiki can be public to only the authors or to a wide interest group or to public.

Are internet technologies different in any respects from other technologies?

Internet technologies are in certain ways different from other technologies:

They can spread very fast. The first design is often time consuming and costly. But there is almost no cost for reproduction. Constant updates are a part of the innovation progress as well as of marketing. This high speed of versions has influenced the innovation and marketing of electronic hardware and other products.

Internet technology seems harmless at first, as there is no noise and moving parts. The interaction with other parts of the internet / ICT is not transparent for the ordinary user and can be used for fraud and other immoral or criminal behaviour.

Can you think of an example when a technology has changed your behaviour?

I can think of a few:

E-Mails have changed my behaviour. I use the phone less. I rather send e-mails for information or questions. If I take the phone today I need an immediate answer or the more personal connection.

Digital photos have changed my behaviour. Before digital photos, I sorted my photos and made albums. Now, I keep photos digitally and have almost non in paper. I do photo albums only seldom. If I do one, I upload it on the internet, to get a printed book.

Internet shopping has significantly changed my behaviour. I buy a lot online, from groceries, books, cloth to washing machine and present vouchers.