Wiki What? You tell me.

Wikis - the online encyclopedias and how-to manuals created, written, and edited by Internet users. An individual can find almost anything on these websites, and if he/she can't? Well, then, he/she has the opportunity and ability to create a page about it. Useful sources of information, sure, but sources of misinformation, too. The idea that individuals have the power to edit entries and add their own 2 cents to various topics may lead to opinionated/biased perspectives, mismatching, conflicting, or incomplete information, and passing on myths and fictions as truths and facts. Still, wikis can be pretty useful tools. When you can learn, share your knowledge, or tweak/add info about a subject all on the same website, things can be pretty interesting.

I've heard of Wikipedia and Wikihow, but I've actually never heard about Wetpaint. Hey, learned something new! Anyway, I searched a few different topics, and here's what I came up with:

1. Wikipedia: I searched for Daniel Johnston, an American singer/songwriter/musician who I'm quite fond of. I've always liked the way Wikipedia is set up --- the entry usually starts off with a summary about the topic, followed by a "Contents" table that lists and links what else is on the page. I also like that there are photos, background information, references, and external links a person can check out for more information. In the case of Daniel Johnston's Wikipedia page, it talks about his life (including the fact that he has bipolar disorder), music, and art.

2. Wikihow: Though I'm aware of this site, I haven't used it. I decided to find out how to make paper throwing stars. Well, I actually know how to make them already, but I was interested in seeing the instructional layout this website provides. It's pretty plain, and I can already imagine several people not being able to follow the directions very well. Why? Well, in my opinion, it's missing one key component: photos for each step. When instructions call for flipping and folding and making shapes, it's always easier to actually SEE what's being done.

3. Wetpaint: I didn't like this website. I searched for "Fight Club," thinking, for sure, the first couple of search results would be about the movie and/or the book. I was wrong. It didn't matter if I put the keywords in quotes or not, I got results that had nothing to do with my search. Now, if I searched Fight Club in Wikipedia, I get: "This is about the novel. For the film, see Fight Club (film). For other uses, see Fight Club (disambiguation)." Now THAT'S useful. No wonder I've never heard of Wetpaint. I'll probably never use it again.

Now to edit my first Wiki. I chose to edit the "Staff Picks" section, and I added a short entry about the movie Drop Dead Fred. Man, I love that movie! Since I've never edited a wiki before, this was actually kind of fun (especially b/c there were different options as to what we could edit and add). In this case, it was about offering my own "staff pick," so I was able to share my opinion about and recommend something I personally enjoy. Pretty neat.

Edit: I went back and added a comment to something a co-worker posted (also in the Staff Picks section). Can you find it? Plus, I added separators (-----, pretty fancy!) between the entries to make each one more apparent. Since I really got into this step (searching, editing, ranting + raving), I spent the max 1.5 hours on it. I can't help it! Sometimes I get too involved!