Data Ranching Software: Wikis
January 18th, 2008Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard of and even used Wikipedia to find information about a subject. Wikipedia is a tremendous resource and a great example of using collective intelligence and effort to build a truly useful data ranch. The name Wikipedia alludes to the fact that the website is built on a software package called a ‘wiki,’ Hawaiian for ‘fast.’
Wikis are great at encouraging user participation. Rather than simply viewing static information like on a blog, users are encouraged to help write new articles and enhance those that already exist. Wikipedia in particular has seen its data ranch grow entirely through the contributions of its readers.
Wikis are also extremely flexible in that they allow users to quickly and freely create and link online articles. This flexibility even allows other users to update articles with additions and deletions, in theory keeping articles entirely up to date through the collective intelligence of many individuals.
The flexibility of wikis can also be a drawback in some cases. Because users are allowed to edit existing articles, there is the chance that data can be updated with malicious or inaccurate content. Readers of wikis usually understand this and therefore view them through a skeptical lens. Wiki administrators must constantly monitor content to ensure that important information is not altered or removed by unscrupulous users.
Another drawback to current wiki software is that the resulting web of content can be difficult to navigate. A wiki is well suited to something like an encyclopedia since users are generally searching for information on a particular subject and can enter a query to find what they need. On the other hand if a user were looking for a list of the best restaurants within 10 miles of his or her house a wiki would not be helpful unless someone (who lived nearby) already created that list in the wiki. And even if that list did exist, how could anyone trust it since it is difficult to see how many users have contributed to that article?
Wikis work well in controlled environments (such as intranets) and for specific online applications but for many data ranching needs, they are simply not the right choice.
