Working Wikily
Wiki: A new name for an old process. Don't let the word scare you off.
You may also be interested in: "Capturing Inclusion on Film"
In the early 80s, in my college dorm, there was a bulletin board
that was never used. One day, I decided to cover the bulletin
board with blank butcher block paper with a header that said, "Write
here." It was an experiment to see what would happen.
Within two days there was some graffiti and a few jokes. The next
week a friend and I traced some Far Side cartoons and left the bubbles
empty. People began writing comments, funny at first, and then
saying things they wanted to say. The third week, via a sub header on
the bulletin board, we encouraged people to post short material on any
topic they chose. Short essays, poems began getting stapled to
the board. The forth week we carved off a portion of the board and had
people "Sound Off" on specific topics in a kind of stream of
consciousness open ended text block. Some of the writing hung
together and some of it didn't. We had a dorm newsletter and
started summarizing bulletin board activity. Eventually the board
took on a life of its own and began organizing around topics that
people were passionate about and were motivated to facilitate.
The bulletin board became a mass collaboration; its content derived
from an organic group process. This was more than a bulletin board; it
was a very low-tech, 80s version of a wiki.
In very simple terms, a modern wiki is web page that anyone can add,
edit and/or share information. How wiki pages are used is a
group's choice. In fact, wiki's have less to do with technology
and more to do with individual and group attitudes on how collaborative
work is done. Wikis, more so than any other collaborative
platform, democratize group output; putting content in the hands of any
group member with passion, time and motivation to contribute.
Working wikily is not a passing fad. It’s been going on forever, we
just haven't called it this. It has its strengths and weaknesses well
beyond the scope of this post. The bottom line is, millions of
people around the world are now using wikis everyday for group
work.
We took our first attempt at a wiki this summer and have plans to do
more. If you are interested in working wikily here are some good
resources to get you going.
- Wikis in Plain English - The folks at Common Craft have become champions at interpreting technology to the masses in the form of YouTube videos
- Working Wikily – A post at Beth’s Blog: How Non-Profits Can Use Social Media.
- Image of Wikis versus E-mail - Think email is a collaboration platform? View this diagram and think again.
- Wiki patterns – Tips on how to build a wiki, including common patterns and anti-patterns.
- PBwiki - Start your own wiki for free in about 5 minutes.
All said, I'm interested in hearing if anyone else has a wiki-like story. Have we done this before? Are we doing it know?
