Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a Wiki

Working in a group to write a report can be very difficult, especially if all members have to contribute to the final product. Writing something using a computer can be real challenge as only one person gets to write while the rest sits to the side; hence the emergence of online writing tools that allow people to simultaneously contribute to the same document. A wiki is one of these online writing tools.

What is a wiki?

A wiki, also known as joint software, is a website that permits users to add, amend, and remove content in every page using a web browser. Jumping in and revising pages are so easy for people that wikis are fast becoming the tool of choice for large, multiple-participant projects. A "wiki page" refers to a single page in a wiki, whereas the entire body of pages is "the wiki". In essence, a wiki is a database for producing, searching, and browsing information.

"Wiki" is the Hawaiian word for "quick". Ward Cunningham developed and introduced in March 1995 the first site to be called a wiki, the WikiWikiWeb. Wiki entered the Oxford English Dictionary Online on March 15, 2007. Since 2000, wikis have been increasingly used in business as collaborative software. Before, wiki was initially used by technical users for intranets, project communication, and documentation. Nowadays, numerous companies are using wikis as collaborative software and as a substitute for static intranets.

Advantages of using a wiki

The advantages of using a wiki are numerous. Basically, it is perfect for writing down quick (or longer) ideas, providing you with more time to formally write and edit the document. It also allows instant collaboration without you having to e-mail documents; this keeps the team in sync. Wikis are also accessible anytime and anywhere with a web connection. It does not matter whether you have a MAC or a PC as long as you have Internet connection. Wikis are immediate, exciting, and empowering since everyone has a say.

Another advantage is that drafts are saved. If you and and other people have amended a document many times, and decided that the original document is much better than the revised versions, you can simply retrieve the original document. In addition, wikis also allow you to put many ideas together and then go back to clean them up when time permits or when necessary. In terms of security, you can password-protect your personal wiki to make sure that it is not accessible to the general public.

Disadvantages of using a wiki

Using a wiki has its disadvantages, too. One of the major problems with wikis is that it can get messy, especially in big projects where a large number of people contribute. Wikis are not an administrative panacea; you have to perform some maintenance, or else it will become an unusable idea bowl. The content management system is not good. You will need to look after your own formatting standards. When it is the time to move to your final document format, there will be more work. If you have a wiki open to the general public for editing, you will have to police it to avoid people unproductively battling over content.