How is a Wiki Different

Cliff encouraged me to share a couple of thoughts:

On a typical wiki page "the answer" is at the top. The most highly evolved version of the answer is always visible. A wiki, like a forum is largely self-correcting, but you don't have to experience the process unless you want to.

In a typical forum discussion "the answer" is somewhere near but rarely at, the end. Finding the answer is a treasure hunt and you pretty much have to follow the clues and hope you recognize it if or when you stumble upon it.

A forum discussion

• starts
• takes on a life of its own
• sometimes reaches a solution / conclusion
• carries on and devolves, digresses, gets sidetracked or dies

Someone looking for answers can

• start a new discussion
• wait for the answer to emerge

or

• search for a discussion that looks relevant
• read through the unfolding story
• try to identify the answer if it is there
• try to recognize the point of diminishing returns, devolution, digression, sidetrack or death

Some people want the answer, some people enjoy the journey.