Thursday, November 08, 2007

Wikis Get Conversational

Sometimes the coincidences are just spooky. Lately I've been thinking a lot about wikis and how to incorporate them into marketing and publishing platforms. This morning I awoke thinking that integrating discussion forums with wikis -- along with news and blogs -- were the missing pieces. Low and behold yesterday Wetpaint announced it had integrated discussion forums into its wiki platform.

Wikis are great resources for community members and for industry, but while they are evolving organisms, they don't reflect the flow of opinion and immediacy of what is happening in the world. Discussion forums (see the earlier post about Networked Insights) enable people to question and comment on things as they happen, or as they are enhancing their education about a topic. A vibrant community is what marketers want, and as long as they allow the wiki and forums to be uncensored, it serves the readership as well.

For an example, check out Wetpaint's PushingDaises wiki. Since the forums just launched yesterday there isn't much in the way of conversation, but the integration is well done.

Having a wiki about your brand and including topical information to match the reference materials provides a powerful communication platform.

By John Gartner at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)

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