I believe the old saying goes something like this:
If all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail
The ultimate goal of installing communication-oriented software is to improve an organization’s information exchange in some sense, but a weblog will not always be the most appropriate tool for the job.
A weblog is a monitored two-way communication device. A select few can post entries, but anyone can leave a comment. This type of architecture is good when there are privileged groups of people running the show, but what if the goal is to have a massively-collaborative website? Then you need to pull out the toolbox and fish around for something else (working the analogy for all that it’s worth!).
After some quick Googling, I found an ExtremeTech article that discusses exactly what I’d hoped — that Wikis are an underused, but extremely powerful, collaboration tool.
The term “wiki” is derived from the Hawaiian word for “quick”, and the definition fits the technology. A wiki-powered website lets anyone, at anytime, modify any page on the website (save for a few restricted pages like the homepage or copyright notice). A fantastic example of a wiki is Wikipedia, an open-editable world encyclopedia.
A perfect use would be for a knowledge management website, where anyone who wishes to expand on a topic could do so without any authorization required. Of course, this type of wiki would be internal and for company eyes only, but you can see how powerful it would be.
A k-blog is just one example of where a wiki would be a much better alternative to a weblog, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
