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Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Wiki's

Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Wiki's Blogs are online open-sources that allow for the "building of something" in which there are no limitations. For example, Wikipedia is an open-source website that has an abundant of searchable information and referenced cross-links to additional online open-sources.

Open source means that anyone can have access to the text, edit it, make comments, and most likely have the ability to update the content.[1]

Below are a few examples of a large number of possibilities that might initiate the building of an online open-source:

• Creating a journal of photos, videos, and commentary of visited vacation sites shared amongst various travel-goers.
  
• Branding a product or service for build customer confidence and loyalty.
• Building personal and business reputation to promote skills, expertise, or professionalism.
• Creating political survey forms to gather comments or opinions of controversial topic (i.e., Healthcare or Wall St. Reform in the U.S.).
• Create an RSS Feed that provides continuous news updates (i.e., BP oil spill in the Gulf).

Search engines are naturally drawn to research-oriented websites and usually consider them more relevant than shopping sites -- which is why most of the time -- the highest listing or ranking for a query is a Wiki page.

The information on Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Wiki's should be taken with a grain of salt because there is no guarantee of accuracy. This brings an important point regarding the prior section on Search Engines – that is, search engines base "authority" not on the accuracy of the web sites information but rather on its notability or popularity.

Google Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Wiki's  

Below are tools offered by Google that allows for the creation and retrieval of information using their unique products and services:

• Google Blog Search -
  

http://blogsearch.google.com/?tab=yb

• Google RSS Feeds Search

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_use_the_new_google_web_feeds.php

• Google Wiki

http://google.wikia.com/wiki/Google_Wiki

• Google Sidewiki

http://www.google.com/sidewiki/intl/en/index.html

[1] Michael Conniff, "Just what is a blog, anyway?," OJR: The Online Journalism Review, September 29, 2005
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050929/.

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