Comments on: What’s in a News Wiki?

By: Google Living Stories, Google Analytics and BCNI Philly | CoPress

Google Living Stories, Google Analytics and BCNI Philly | CoPress — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:18:26 +0000

[...] Currently there’s no functionality for users to participate in the production of the page, a key component of the news wiki idea I’ve written about before, but what they have is a very cool start. Paul Bradshaw has more. (tks Brian [...]

By: #swineflu and the News Ecology - Daniel Bachhuber

#swineflu and the News Ecology - Daniel Bachhuber — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:55:43 +0000

[...] wasn’t satisfied with how the New York Times presented information to me. If they launched a true news wiki with similar or superior accessibility, I think they could steal my attention back for one reason: the New York Time has a brand of [...]

By: Appropriate Mediums for Appropriate Conversations - Daniel Bachhuber

Appropriate Mediums for Appropriate Conversations - Daniel Bachhuber — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:54:15 +0000

[...] and context your reporters are finding. A wiki dedicated specifically to this topic, much like the topical wiki I’ve described before, could provide the background information necessary to bring people up to speed, including how many [...]

By: Wikis to (Re)build the News - Daniel Bachhuber

Wikis to (Re)build the News - Daniel Bachhuber — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:25:17 +0000

[...] TechCrunch, then I would visit it every day. Innovate with the formats of journalism too; start a topical wiki that aggregates and synthesizes information on any given subject. If you create an account on the site, or sign in via OpenID, allows users [...]

By: Daniel Bachhuber

Daniel Bachhuber — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:53:08 +0000

@Jeremy, I think you raise a good point about “getting users to actually explore the ASUO wiki link.” A bit of CSS (to distinguish between internal and external links) and reader education would easily fix this. You could also allow the option of reporting to the FB News Feed every time you made a significant contribution to the wiki. With the right design, I don’t actually think this would be too big of a problem.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:54:39 +0000

Nice post, some really great ideas in there. I also like the idea of keeping the articles short.

I think that the biggest obstacle here would be the use of it. In past experience the hardest part about getting wikis (and even group blogs) off of the ground is getting students to actually use them. Our generation just seems to be too comfortable in consuming info without producing any.

By: Jeremy Blanchard

Jeremy Blanchard — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:27:15 +0000

This is one of the most winning ideas I’ve heard from you, Daniel.

I think the contextualization that you’re suggesting (by using a wiki) is wonderful. Reminds me a bit of the Semantic Web concept that has been generating buzz the last year or two (maybe longer?).

I think keeping the articles to a limited size is important.

Couple risks I see: 1) Trying to have all the content in the world under one roof. 2) Getting users to actually explore the ASUO wiki link. They would need a way to know that it’s a short summary instead of a link to their home page.

Couple other comments:
Although it doesn’t directly relate to the idea your proposing, I think wiki news deserves a mention.

It’s funny you should mention the confusing ASUO system. Every time I am involved with something, I constantly take mental notes about how the processes could be improved for the future. In terms of my recent work with the ASUO, I’ve considered making a wiki specifically about the ASUO and their processes. It would be nearly impossible to get anyone besides myself to contribute content, but it would be insanely useful (if anyone were able to find it, which would be difficult also). I think the focus of the wiki would be to provide “use cases” for your interaction with the ASUO. Then you can see step-by-step directions. It would be a roadmap for interactions.

Maybe I should get the senate to create a new position: Web Czar. I could make their website usable and effective. Haha.