Blogs vs Wikis

Blogs and wikis are collaboration tools that are designed to help people communicate their thoughts and ideas on a specific topic. Linearly a blog is a public website where people comment and share their opinions on a subjects matter and or topics of salience. Basically it provides a platform for people around the world to share openly; their take on topics of interest. On the other hand as wiki is a online software that allows individuals to create a document that can be easily shared and edited among a group of people. In essence is can be devised that blogs are an exchange of thoughts, ideas and concerns, whereas wikis are a collaborative attempt to solidify and enhance the production and or publication of an idea, thought or goal.
The convergence of blogs and wikis are important to facilitate the need of connecting and collaborating on every platform possible. Being able to share or post blogs with friends on social networks are important for the purpose of spreading information. The article How we measure the influence of the Bloggoshere by Kate E. Gill states, "Unlike newspapers or television news, blogging is not capital-intensive; there is no centralized registry, no editorial oversight. All a writer needs is access to a computer (free at the public library). The only cost is time,". Blogging is very effective in the media, as people are now able to share and relate their own news. Wikis are also becoming very popular, many schools, companies and other social facilities are honing in on this technology for the collection and combination of ideas. An article in The Harvard Business review, by Gardiner Moss claims, "It’s a growing trend. The consultancy Gartner forecasts that half of all U.S. companies will have wikis by 2009, but this isn’t necessarily because of a conscious strategy from the top down."(An Interview with Jim Wales) Wikis and blogs have a lot of potential as people can do more than just collaborate thoughts and ideas. It can also be used to create stories and emphasize creativity.

The effects of New Media in Business and the Economy

 The use of technologies have made life both easy and simple in many respects. This statement proves true in regards to businesses and the economy. The business world has definitely experienced changes, from the way phones are answered, to the display of financial records. Almost everything is computerized in the corporate world, saving business owners and investors a great deal of time and money. The use of the internet has even made it easy for businesses to communicate and expand globally. These changes that New Media have made in the business world does not only affect business owners and investors, but also the economy. In any event where money flows in and out of household, firms and the government, the economy is affected. A simple event such as laying off employees to incorporate a new automated voice answering system increases the unemployment rate. The development of technology in respects to business and the economy has both pros and cons for the future, as employers seek New Media to save money and increase production proficiency, whereas employees of the future may have a standard mandatory demand to be technology savvy.