Wikity-Split
In light of my on-going involvement with the wiki documentary project, Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story, I thought it would only be fitting to touch on the topic here a bit and see what lies ahead for the wiki and wiki culture.
If there’s anything that is sure to ruffle the feathers of your friendly, neighborhood web developer, it’s throwing around terms like “wiki” and “Ajax” simply because they are trendy. But don’t worry. Web developers are just a persnickety bunch.
That aside, there is an undeniable trend around this technology. That is, peoples’ inability to keep themselves from talking about it (for good or for bad).
The Wiki
Wiki is just one such example of this, but is it completely without merit? In a week where Wikipedia founder, Jimbo Wales was in Chennai, India, speaking at a Wiki Camp “Unconference” and chatter around wiki hits publications, ranging from the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s death to the debate over the inclusion of Wikipedia in the classroom, the message is clear. Wiki is here to stay.
The phenomena of “wiki” has been around for some time now and the attention brought on by Wikipedia, has brought wiki to the forefront of business and scholastics. So where does this leave the developer when your average brochure client is asking for a wiki? Probably asking yourself, “how does this really apply?”
So How Does Wiki Apply?
I just returned from a meeting for one of the wiki projects I’m working on. There’s no question how wiki fits into the development spectrum of web applications, but I find myself, more and more, getting requests from clients for wikis to supplement brochure sites. So, does wiki have a useful application in this area? And if so, how does the average business stand to benefit?
When I was first approached to develop a supplement wiki for a clients’ brochure site, I wasn’t sure how to approach it. It became very apparent that wiki can have a powerful roll in business, and moreover that the adoption of a wiki philosophy has great potential to change the nature of commerce. But this is very utopic and goes against my nature. Yes, I’m pessimistic and support open source. Go figure.
In this particular case, the use of a wiki format will be applied in much the same way as it has been in the past: for the growth of knowledge through open discourse. Taken outside this application though, I’m not sure if the wiki format is of use. How does business stand to benefit from opening communications in this way?
The same question seems to follow the wiki wherever it goes, that of credibility. However, if you put the wiki in a normal business setting, the function becomes one of open discourse and this can be controlled. The question then becomes, is “open discource” something business really wants?
Where Does This Leave The Designer?
Regardless of your opinion on how open the
private business sector is to “open
discourse”, wiki is evolving and with
this evolution new challenges are
emerging for the designer. Wiki came on to
the scene strong, with a ‘look’ and a learning
curve. The learning curve has been a wrench in
the spokes of design evolution for the wiki.
Fortunately, Wikipedia has allowed users to
manage the learning curve, by sticking to a
basic Mediawiki skin (which isn’t so bad, if you ask me). But the desire for more is always present and the scope of the wiki can be greatly expanded if the learning curve conundrum can be tackled along with the expansion of its visual language.
It’s on the designer to find this balance. I am very excited to see the next generation of wikis unfold.
