Wikis and Social Networks-- Thing 16

I can see the potential for wikis in a variety of projects and appreciate the instanteousness and spontaneity of such sites. The open-endedness of all these projects makes you think differently, more collaboratively. The wikis seem especially useful for lists, increments of information, or brief analyses (such as short book reviews). I liked the Princeton Library site and will visit it again, I think, for "late breaking" reviews! Wikis seem to advocate democratic participation which leads to a lot of mediocre or inaccurate and opinionated content, such as you hear on C-Span or find on Wikipedia. Many of the wikis do not seem so open-ended and democratic--they filter what they accept