Blistiki

See What's a wiki? for an explanation of wikis.

See Wikipedia for an explanation of weblogs.

See several other Wikipedia entries for descriptions of listservers.

Here's my take on this: When one person is writing diary-like entries meant to be read by others, it is a blog. If several people are keeping blogs on the same server and there is some dialogue going between them, it is more like a public version of the original Email listserver; we could call this a "blist", for lack of a better term. When several people want to coauthor a single document, the wiki is an ideal environment. So if several people want to engage in a dialogue where each grant the other limited editing privileges on their own postings, we need the mechanism of a wiki with a "netiquette" somewhere between that of a normal wiki and a blist. I call this setup a blistiki, and this is one.

Experience has taught me that any of these forms is extremely unstable with respect to collective behavior: a group of people who enthusiastically participate in a listserver will clam up when offered a chance to immortalize their creative efforts and/or critical analyses on a wiki, and yet a wiki that is perceived as "already established" (like the remarkable Wikipedia) will draw participation like a magnet - thoughtful, earnest and self-critical participation to boot! The Tragedy of the Commons seems not to apply to this mode of communication, for some miraculous reason.

So I fully expect to be on my own here. If anyone ever actually reads my blog-like entries, they are welcome to chime in. But, unlike in a "proper" wiki, I'd rather they didn't simply edit or delete my entries; just have your own say, and I'll decide if revisions are called for. I hope I can assume this contract for our blistiki.

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