Two sides to the coin.
Not too long ago, quite a number of researchers were studying online discussion
forums. They may even still be doing so, though these seem to have dropped out
of the limelight as newer interactive tools have upstaged them. Many of these
studied noted a distinction between two different elements of the postings in
these forums - content elements and process elements. Researchers emphasized that
successful online forums were able to blend these two elements, such that a posting
not only conveyed information about the subject under discussion, but also information
about the person who wrote the post and about his or her relationship to the group
and the way it was developing. An entry in an encyclopedia, by definition, strives
to convey only content elements. That's totally legitimate. After all, we're dealing
with an encyclopedia and not with a personal blog. But that's precisely why, if
I can choose to write in only one of these frameworks, the supposedly neutral
voice of the Wikipedia loses out. Without the other, process-side, to the coin,
it's simply not that interesting.
Go to: Don't Bogart that Info