WIKIS!!!

In the Internet one can find many different types of websites and a type that is worth analysing is the one of wikis. A wiki is a space in the Internet in which people can work together in order to write one or more texts on any sort of subject. It is characterized by certain features and tools which make this collaborative authoring possible. An example of a wiki website that almost everybody knows is Wikipedia.

Taking a look at Wikipedia’s articles and pages one can see what the main purpose of this wiki in particular is. First of all, as I have already mentioned, the main purpose of wikis is to create a space where people can collaborate in writing the same text on a single argument. This collaboration is carried out thanks to the possibility of adding, removing or editing what someone has already written and another person wants to give his/her contribution to. What is particular about wikis is that these procedures can be done very easily and quickly. In fact the word wiki comes from the Hawaian expression ‘wiki wiki’ that means fast. The other main purpose of wikis is that of sharing knowledge for a common good.

The audience of wikis is therefore made up by anyone in the world who wants to participate. Particularly in the case of Wikipedia you can divide audience into two groups: on one side there are the ones who visit this website just to get some information about a particular subject, on the other side there are people who not only consult the site but also contribute to add more information in it. However, there is no need of signing in, not even in the case you edit something. And everything is done anonimously.

The language used in wikis is mainly formal. In Wikipedia, for example, the fact of using formal language is justified by the fact that it is a virtual encyclopedia and therefore it handles specific subjects in a scientific way. And this requires a formal language, differently from other kinds of websites, such as blogs.

There are other characteristics of wikis which you can easily find in Wikipedia. For example, there are no advertisements because it is a non-profit endeavor. The layout is characterised by many hyperlinks, by the division into sections and by the presence of photographs. There is a socalled ‘wikiquette’ which looks forward to give a ‘good manners list’, but there are no firm rules and wikis are not censured. Therefore, unfortunately there have been some episodes of vandalism.

On the whole, wikis are websites where anyone can share his/her knowledge with the rest of the world and compare it with the knowledge of others, who can easily edit what they read by adding or removing information. It is free and anonymous. It is a place where you can find a lot of interesting articles. However, you must always keep in mind that there could be some people who do not follow the main purpuse of sharing knowledge for a common good and therefore you must always be critical.

Isabella